Final pics: Last Days in turkey and the lost Castle pics!

Final Turkey Pics (and tulips from Amsterdam!) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.672505092768.2147411.52700845&l=40c507bca8&type=1

Castle in the Med! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.672519024848.2147413.52700845&l=93326574ce&type=1

The Final Days in Turkey and the Trek Homeward!

On to Monday! We decided we wanted a day to sleep as late as we could, and so we did! Dan beat us all, of course, as he usually does when it comes to sleeping in. Andrea and I got up and went to breakfast, and we were in for a tremendous surprise! The guy who runs our hotel came out and asked if we wanted anything else for breakfast besides the usual Turkish breakfast they serve—and of course we took him up on the offer! We got cheese omelets instead of a boiled egg. Works for me! We still got the same French bread, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers, but that was ok. We got a much-needed and delicious change in the protein. =)

I needed to mail some things, so I set out for the post office while Dan showered and got ready and Andrea wrote some postcards. The post office (or PTT) is bright yellow and hard to miss—thankfully!—but when I got in I wasn’t quite sure what to do. I finally figured out I needed to take a number from a machine, but I’m not really sure why because the lady behind the counter called me over before it was my turn. No complaints, just curious!

Stamps: check. Problem: I needed a box! The one they had there was too small, so the woman told me to go to the bookstore and get one. Of course, I had no idea which bookstore, and the directions someone gave me were either erroneous or I just didn’t understand what they meant. Oh well! I decided to stop in and see my good friend, Ludwina the dollhouse and carpet maker! What a sweetheart. I asked where the bookstore was so I could mail a package, but she said never mind that, she’d just run back to her house and see if she had one that would fit my stuff! She told me to stay at the store and she’d be right back. Yep, she left me in charge of the carpet shop! Haha. She came back a few minutes later with a box and bubble wrap, and then she went behind the counter in her store and produced brown packaging paper, scissors, and packaging tape! Just like having a mom around in a foreign country—God always puts someone around to look out for me wherever I am!

I wanted to buy something from her shop as a way to thank her, but I said I didn’t think I could afford anything she made. And she agreed! But I had been looking at some of the pillowcases earlier, and they’re pretty neat. Some are embroidered, and some are made from old kilims (which are smaller carpets, more like a welcome mat of sorts). Those were only 15 Lira (around $8 or so), and I knew I could afford that. She said even if I couldn’t have something she made, I will remember that I “did get it” from her shop. Her English is so cute and so GOOD! So there we go. Mailing mission: accomplished.

After a while, we set out for the Ephesus Museum (see previous post). Again, Dan won the race of who can go through the museum fastest. Go Dan! After that, we decided to get some lunch. Our eating schedules never really got into a regular routine. We’d eat breakfast whenever and then go until 3 or so before we got hungry for lunch. But some days one of us would be starving for supper while the other two were fine to go without. The body adjusts so strangely sometimes. I don’t think we were ever in one place long enough for our bodies to figure out what was going on, so maybe that’s why we were so up and down with out sleep and eating patterns.

And if that conversation is boring you, we’ll move on! We had thought we’d go to the same place where we went the evening before because the food was so good, but we passed by another little restaurant on the street that had some really good-looking mezzes in the window, some of which we hadn’t seen anywhere in Turkey—like baba ganouj! This place was pretty good as well. Their Turkish pizza, Dan’s favorite, was different than other places’; they used some different type of cheese. Andrea and I both got mezze plates with 5 different appetizers to taste, some good, some interesting, others not quite good or interesting except for the way they look! I think I finally figured out it’s the olive oil that’s been making me a bit sick. My stomach isn’t used to that much of it, and I don’t actually like it anyway. Now that I’m done with the Turkey trip, I finally figured it out. Bummer I didn’t figure it out a week ago!

At any rate, there we were, done with lunch (lupper?), and ready to get a move on! We still needed to stop over in Sirince (“sir-in-jay” is how it sounded when they pronounced it). This is a little town up in the hills close by that’s known for its wine and its cute cobblestone streets! Being the wine connoisseur that I am NOT, I didn’t glean much from the trip in the way of wine. But it was neat to see the vineyards! I did end up buying a dress from one of the shops, and we made some Irish friends in one of the little stores on the street there, so overall, the trip was a success! We also had another chance to stop and get ice cream again. Mmm!

After a climb up some steep mountainside steps to see the church of St. John the Baptist, and a lookout over the valley, we frolicked down the hillside like Heidi (ok, I made that part up!), and found where we needed to take the dolmus back to our place. And that was it! We debated going back out for supper, but I was so not up for that, unfortunately.

And that lead us to Tuesday! Again, we tried to sleep in, as it was our last day there. Andrea went out early and bought some last-minute cherry jelly (which is everywhere in Turkey—and SO good!), and we all met up for one final breakfast together. Hard to believe it’s been two weeks! I walked to the bus station with Andrea, who doesn’t like to fly and decided to take the 10 hour bus ride up to Istanbul, then to the train station with Dan, who was taking the train to Izmir and then flying to Istanbul to meet up with Andrea. We are quite the travelling brood—planes, trains, and automobiles!

After hugs goodbye and promises to send a CD with all our pictures from the trip and send to the two of them, I walked around Selcuk and did a couple of last-minute errands. I wanted to stop in to see our friend Julia in her shop and tell her goodbye, then stopped for lunch at a place she recommended. This one was better, but still upset my stomach a little bit. It’s really a bummer because I love to eat! =( Moving on… I went back to the hotel (that seems so generous to call it a “hotel”!) in the afternoon and gave my parents a call on my Magic Jack (highly recommended for anyone traveling out of the country, as long as you have a reliable Internet connection!). My train to Izmir didn’t leave until 7:20 pm, so I took my time, caught up on some things I needed to do before going home, took a nap, and then I was ready to go! The train ride was smooth (albeit smelly), there was a bit of an issue with my plane ticket once I got to the Izmir airport, but the plane ride from Izmir to Istanbul was fine. I got there about 11:30 pm, charged my computer, semi-napped for a couple of hours, and hopped in line for my KLM flight home! I like KLM so far. The Dutch are so pleasant! =)

Just so you’re prepared the next time you come to Amsterdam, the airport is HUGE! And they have cute stuff for sale: wooden shoes, mugs, tulips (did you know they have a TULIP FESTIVAL here? I am so coming back!), windmills, little Dutch people figurines, etc., etc., etc. And the people really do seem to be happy to help, even without having to be asked! Or maybe I just looked really befuddled and that guy thought I really couldn’t figure out the kiosk—either way, I’m thankful for help any time I can get it! To be quite honest, the Turkish men were quite rude, which I suppose is to be expected. I was undeniably relieved and delighted the first time a stranger let me go in front of him because that’s the chivalrous and RIGHT thing to do! This was in the Istanbul airport, and the guy was an American—that’s something to be proud of!

But back to these nice Dutch people. They also have wonderful accents. What I’ve heard isn’t quite like any other European accent I’m familiar with. Some of them pronounce “r”s like Americans, but then other sounds are definitely European pronunciations. I love it! =)

My layover in Amsterdam was 4 hours, which would have normally been enough time to maybe peak out and see something very Dutch, but alas, I didn’t want to chance missing my flight home. Amsterdam has very high security; it’s the only one I’ve been to in my small amount of travel experience whose security rivals that of the U.S., and even beats us in many ways! I’m sorry it’s necessary, but I’m glad they do it, especially after seeing how lax things were when travelling around Turkey. The final leg of my trip was a smooth one. I even semi-napped on the plane, which is a big deal for me! The sweet Dutch people reinforced my opinion of them, and their food was quite tasty as well! Light on the oil, heavy on the yumminess. When I wasn’t napping or eating, I was able to catch up on some Bible studies I’ve missed while being away. I had intended to work on some Swiss-German translations, but I think I’ll wait till I can get some sleep and use that part of my brain more effectively.

And now I’m HOME!!!!! My friend Sean picked me up from the airport and I’m just waiting at his place until church tonight. Whew! Can’t wait to be in my own little bed and eat my own little food and drink my tap water! =)

Next stop: Who knows?! I was thinking Amsterdam, but I need to visit some US friends before I go gallivanting across the ocean. Any takers? =) 

Ephesus! Yes, just like Ephesians in the Bible. =)

And so begins our Sunday in Ephesus! We went to the bus stop to catch the Efes (Turkish for Ephesus) bus and were there within 10 minutes of leaving the place where we were staying. Lickety split, easy as that! Tickets into Ephesus were 20 Lira, about $11, in case anyone’s interested in going. =)

Unfortunately, we got there about the same time as some of the tour groups from cruise ship excursions. Fortunately, we had our pick of English-speaking guides to follow throughout our sojourn back in time. =) Money saved: 40 Euro, or roughly just over $50. Cha-ching.

And we’re off! Dan decided to abandon us girls and get the audio guide. Andrea and I decided to take our time, read signs, eavesdrop, and look at everything as long as we wanted! First up, the small theater. Columns in the Corinthian, Byzantine, and Roman styles were all displayed together, seemingly at random. Ruins were laid out everywhere, as if they’d all just toppled over yesterday. And the best part: we got to climb all over most of them! =) Andrea and I climbed onto the nearest broken pieces and started taking pictures. We walked into the “gymnasium”, or small theater, and just walked around in awe. The steps were marble, and just thinking about how old the stone seating is was mind-blowing! It would be interesting to know what all happened there when it was in full use. I’ll bet none of them ever thought, “One day, people will come from all over the world and pay lots of money to come here and take tours. They’ll even write guidebooks about this place.” Little did they know that just a few thousand years later, people would flock there from cruise ships and think of it as part of a vacation destination!

And onward we went! We looked around for Dan, but by this time he was already WAY head of us! Andrea and I went about our business climbing and roaming around the fallen granite chunks. We saw a cool archway and both thought, “Photo-op!” Others were in the same area as well, but the next thing we knew, we were being yelled at by an entire tour group saying, “Get out!” Unfortunately, we missed the “Do not cross” sign. Fortunately, we got the pictures!!! =) Absolutely worth it.

Next stop, we decided to get out of the way of that particular tour group and explore a less-crowded area. Apparently we ended up in the part of Ephesus where they store the pieces they excavate before putting them out for tourists to climb upon! We saw a lot of pieces that were placed next to each other, like pieces of a puzzle about to be glued together. A lot of the pieces also had very clear writing on them. Looked like Greek to me. ;) I was amazed at how clear the writing was. I guess marble doesn’t erode like regular rock! The writing was beautiful. Sure makes me wish I could read Greek! The place was pretty impressive with all the pieces just laying around, propped against the wall, sitting on shelves. Cats (which are EVERYWHERE!) were using them as pedestals to sit or clean themselves on. I think they’re a bit jaded with the whole Ephesus thing. ;)

And next we have… more columns and statues from various time periods! It’s pretty neat to see them all together, sort of in progression. We also saw statues of gods, goddesses, rulers, heroes of the day, cherubim, etc. Very interesting to see, especially since a lot of the statues were also engraved with crosses—some big, some small, some elaborate, some looked like part of a pattern. Not sure if that symbolized something else at some point, or if perhaps Christians had any influence over the stone engraving or carving sometimes.

Next up, the bathroom! We learned all sorts of interesting things about the men’s room/”House of Love” at Ephesus. Apparently marking your territory was a big deal, as was bum washing. Don’t use your imagination too much, my friends! And just behind the men’s public toilet was the brothel. Very nice.

Moving on! Down the walkway we go, passing headless ruined statue people along the way. No telling who all walked down that walkway so many years ago! We got to the bottom of the hill, and there before us is what we’d been seeing from a distance until now: The Library of Celsus! If ever you’ve seen a picture of a broken down building in Ephesus, that’s it! Signs around the building showed the before and after pictures of excavation, so we could see just how much restoration had been done. It’s amazing what people can do! Did anyone else do Puzz-3D when you were a kid? This is the real thing! Why didn’t I get into that when I was deciding what to do with my life? It’s never too late, right? =)

Sadly, we discovered the books are no more—I guess they didn’t make those out of granite or marble, huh? Haha. They are still excavating and restoring Ephesus, so maybe if I go back again in 20 years there will be more. They’ve done a lot in the last 20 years since excavation started, but my goodness there’s a lot left to be done!

Passing through an archway dedicated to someone who used to be important, we came upon the road down to what used to be the harbor! Yes, that’s exactly where people would go for access into Asia Minor back in the day—people like Paul and other people of the Bible! And right there in the middle of the road we saw it: a re-enactment of a play about a ruler! It was in Turkish, so of course we had no idea what was going on, nor could we see over the crowd of people. What we did see looked pretty corny, though. It would have been hilarious if we’d been able to understand the plot. Oh well!

And then we came to the crown jewel of Ephesus and its place in Biblical history: The Great Theater! Not only is it the biggest of its kind in the world (it could once hold 24,000 people), it’s also likely where Paul spoke boldly to the Ephesians! Andrea and I settled in up at the top and read aloud Acts 19, the chapter about Paul in Ephesus! How incredible to think that this is where he very well may have appeared before the crowd, much to the disciples’ dismay, as the crowd shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” And the city clerk was the one who spoke in his defense! I didn’t appreciate the reverence held for Artemis. I really didn’t even know much about her at all until now! She was apparently the giver of life to all, according to their cultural beliefs. THAT is who these people worshipped, and that is exactly who Paul was teaching against! As Andrea and I read, I think we both gained new understandings of things we hadn’t thought of before and made connections we’d missed until now.

After the dramatic reading and several moments of discussion, reflection, re-reading, and reading more of the surrounding chapters to gain context, we went about our way. We walked through the tunnel that leads to the stage area from outside the theater, and I got some goose bumps thinking that might have been part of the route those Bible characters would have taken as well!

We then came upon a row of columns of all sorts and made from many materials! They really are beautiful, even after all this time. And what might be more amazing is the weather here—perfectly blue skies and no clouds! It’s really a spectacular setting for the ruins! The white really stands out against the blue. As we walked on, we came upon an interesting ruin graveyard. All sorts of pieces and huge chunks had been all set out in neat rows, just like that’s where they’re supposed to be for eternity.

And then we came to the end of the road through Ephesus! Thank you for joining us on our journey! We looked around at the shops outside of Ephesus and sat for a while to rehydrate and rest our weary feet. Dan had let us know that he’d caught the dolmus bus back to the place where we’d been staying, so we knew we’d be able to meet up with him later. Andrea and I had to wait a while for the dolmus, but no worries—we made a new friend while we waited! I don’t think we got her name, but she’s one of the waitstaff from a cruise ship that was docked in the area for the day. She’s from Guadalajara, Mexico, and she’s been all over the place with her work. Yet again—a VERY cool job that lets you travel!

So back to our place we went! We got Dan, and the three of us struck out for a Turkish food adventure. My experiences to this point had led to undesirable results, but I kept hoping I’d be proven wrong and have a grand experience instead. It’s all so inexpensive around here, and I hate to pass up a food opportunity! Luckily enough, this one was pretty good. Andrea and Dan were both GREATLY pleased—Andrea’s kebab was big enough to feed all three of us! I got the stuffed eggplant—I love that they have eggplant everywhere around here—and Dan had no trouble finding a vegetarian meal for himself. It was a winner all around! We made a kitty friend for a little while, but then another cat came and crashed the party—one would think this would teach us not to feed the cats, but I don’t think we learned our lesson. =)

We walked around a bit and headed back to our place after a while. Andrea and I did our church service—Ephesians was, of course, the topic for us—and it was very good for both of us.

Another interesting note about Ephesus is that a sizeable percentage of the artifacts that were excavated there have since gone to other countries for display or just “because”. Some of the Turks we met told us that the Turks don’t know a lot about the history of the country, and they don’t really know that they should care either. After changing hands so often and being involved in so many wars, and then the whole population change I knew nothing about until two weeks ago, it’s no wonder they’re apathetic and/or ignorant. I’ve learned a lot more about Turkish history and culture than I realized!

That said, another portion of the Ephesian artifacts are in the Ephesus Museum in Selcuk, which we decided to go to on Monday. There are more headless statues, statues heads without bodies, friezes, reliefs (I need to look up the difference in the last two), tables, tools, urns, sarcophagi, and the things I found most interesting were the life-sized sculptures of two secular leaders. Why were they so interesting? Well, because they had been “Christianized”! Or so the sign said next to them! Apparently, some Christians got ahold of them at some point and carved a cross on each of the sculptures’ head. Take that.

More on the rest of the trip later. Hope you enjoyed the Ephesian excursion! Pictures have already been posted. 

Special Treat: Ephesus Pictures! Stay tuned for the Blog entry with details.

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Aaannddd... Selcuk Pictures!

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Turkish Farmer’s Market and the Aegean Sea!

So here we are in Selcuk! (Pronounced “Sell-chuck”.) We got in around 9:00 or so Friday night, and around 10:00 or so, we were treated to a true Turkish experience! Apparently, someone joined the Turkish Army, and when that happens, there’s a big parade in the street—and it happened to be right outside our window. Sorry, I was trying to sleep so I didn’t get any pictures. Kind of a bummer! There was music and yelling and lots of noise—that much I can tell you. =)

Saturday morning, we slept in as late as we could—I got up around 8:30, Andrea a little after that, and Dan slept till 11 or so. We are quite a diverse threesome. =) Traditional Turkish Breakfast is included, which is not our favorite, but it’s what we got! It consists of a boiled egg, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, bread, cheese, butter, and jelly (cherry jelly=yummy!). It sufficed.

We got really lucky with Saturday being our first full day here. Right outside the hotel’s front door, a bazaar was going on! It was like a Farmer’s Market/arts festival, except about 100 times bigger! They shut down the road for blocks and set up shop for the whole day! I was so sorry to be missing my Old Town Farmer’s Market, but this was a worthy substitute to get me through! =) There were figs, melons I’d never seen before, grapes galore, bananas, olive oil, Turkish Delight and other candies, peppers, olives, tomatoes as big as grapefruits, peaches the size of softballs and the list could go on and on! See pictures. =)

Andrea and I ventured out to see the selection of foods, then got sidetracked in the various other sections of the market—jewelry, bags, pashminas, clothes, ceramics, etc. Dan met up with us a bit later, and we had a grand time just looking at all the funny things tourists buy, like Evil Eye memorabilia, that supposedly bring good luck, belly dancing outfits, tacky trinkets, key chains, paperweights, glittery stuff, you know—the touristy things. =) We all bought a few things of course, but definitely nothing with glitter. =)

We stumbled into this nice woman’s shop (yes, a woman owns and runs it herself! In TURKEY!!!!!), and she absolutely gave us the low-down on everything in Selcuk! She told us the best way to get to and explore Ephesus, places to eat around town, where to go on a day trip, how to tell if ceramics are good or bad quality. Her name is Julia and she’s great! The little place she recommended to us for lunch was really good, too. The people were super nice. =)

In the afternoon, we bought some baklava, browsed around the market, and decided on our plan of attack for the rest of the weekend. =) We decided to take the dolmus (minibus) to Pamucuk (pam-oo-chuck) beach for the evening, and tackle Ephesus the next day. This was a good decision! Walking along the Aegean Sea, where many of the disciples probably sailed to and from, was quite remarkable! Being there at sunset was lovely, and wading in the cold water felt so good! Definitely a highlight of the trip! Andrea and I made a fish in the sand, too, which is one of the early Christian symbols that people used HERE in the first century. So cool.

That evening we went to a fancy-dancy outdoor restaurant to have supper (eating out is SO cheap here!), and it was very definitely a great atmosphere for dinner. I’ve not been impressed with the food, but that may have to do with my stomach being kind of unsettled still. Dan and Andrea have both enjoyed it, though! After supper, we walked back to our pension/hotel, and on the way we met up with a very sweet woman from Bulgaria in a carpet and kilim shop. She makes full-sized rugs by hand, but then she also makes… doll house carpets! And clothes, and furniture, and all that stuff! She said she loves it, and while there’s not really a market for it in Turkey, the tourists like it, and she can easily sell the doll things on the Internet! She’s very nice and was just excited to show us her doll house. =) We were actually drawn in by the sign out front: “No hassle rug shop”! Haha. So I had to get a picture with the sign, of course! And that’s when Ludwina came out to talk with us. You never know how or where or when you’ll meet people! =)

And the next day was… Ephesus! The adventure continues! 

Goreme Pics!

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Last days in Goreme--lots of hiking!

I do not want to take away from this day. My prayers are with our country, those serving, those whose families have been affected. I am looking very forward to returning home soon!

Where did we leave off? Turkish coffee (regular and “official” Turkish coffee) is not my preferred means of caffeine consumption, but the Kapadokian rice pudding is creamy, cool, refreshing, and delicious! The locals always offer you either apple tea (which is basically apple cider) or Turkish tea, which we think is like black tea. Both are quite good! And the Turkish tea is a sufficient substitute for my caffeine fix. We have been leisurely breakfasting on the rooftop terrace each day and getting started out and about around 11:00 or so. Anyone who knows me knows I like to get going early, but this has been a nice change of pace for me!

Thursday we went to the “big” underground Hittite city of Derinkuyu. To be quite honest, we were absolutely underwhelmed. I think in my head I was envisioning signs with information about what was what like we’d seen among the ruins and other places we’d been, but there wasn’t any of that. I think they wanted you to have to hire a guide. ;) Oh well! We snuck along behind an English-speaking tour group for a little ways and crawled around the rooms we were allowed to go into. This one went deeper into the earth and there were some cool passageways and grind-stone doors, and it was better-lit than the first underground city we explored on the way to Goreme, but I think I would have been just as satisfied skipping it. Am I becoming jaded? Heavens, I hope not!!!

At any rate, Dan rented a scooter (motorbike) took off to do some exploring around a valley and a national park he’d wanted to see, and Andrea and I went up to Ucisar (pronounced Oo-chee-sar), a castle carved into a mountainside! We hiked up the outside a little ways, then went up through the center and hiked it up to the top! The views were amazing! On one side we could see the Erciyes volcano in the distance, on another side we saw the Fairy Chimneys and Love Valley, on another side we saw Goreme, and in another direction we would see Rose Valley—whose rock formations looked more like meringue than roses to me! =)

She and I stayed up there at the top for a while watching the sun go lower in the sky and talking about faith and the Bible (I know, a very broad subject!). We wanted to hike down into the valley below and get back to the main road before dark, so we started down at what we figured was a good time. The hike was steep and gritty—translation: slippery!—but it was so neat to walk through the valley and see the rock formations from the ground up! I found out the rock formations were made by lava from the volcano. Not sure exactly how, that’s just what I could get from the stuff I looked up. =)

At any rate, people still live in the rock formations! I had thought that people lived there up until the 1980s, but we definitely saw people still living there! They even had satellites for TV! Too funny. We found fruit trees in the valley, beautiful views of the sunset, and really unique views of the rocks. Pictures to follow!

Once we got back to the main road, we were able to catch the dolmus bus and get back to the center of town before dark. =) Andrea and I were supposed to meet up with Dan at 8 for supper at our friend’s father’s restaurant, so we had a bit of time to kill. I needed to go back to the Old Cappadocia Café and Restaurant so I could get my promised grape balls from the cute waiter! This time Andrea got the Rice pudding, which she greatly approved of, and I can honestly say that the grape balls were different—and they were good! It was kind of like a truffle, but tasted like grapes. It also had nuts in it, and it was served with cream and honey. Mmm mmm!

And off we went to Sultan Restaurant! I got my grape leaves (which I’d been looking for everywhere!), and everything came with bread, cheese, and butter. We got to sit on the terrace and got a fantastic view of the Fairy Chimneys lit up at night! We even got a 20% discount on our bill because of our friend (the blue-eyed man who’d helped us out so much with scooter rentals and advice on getting from one place to another.

Next stop, bed time! Last night in the cave! I probably got one of the best nights’ sleep since getting to Goreme! Dan got up super early for a balloon ride, and Andrea got up to watch from our “porch”, and I slept till almost 9! =) What a switch! We had our last wonderful breakfast, left our luggage there for the day, and checked out. Dan worked through the day, but Andrea and I decided to go on another hike. We walked up to the top of a hill and took the billy-goat trail (i.e. rough trail—exactly what I’d been looking for!) through Love Valley. We made a friend who was selling pomegranate juice (tart, slightly sweet, reminiscent of grapefruit juice, and quite refreshing on a hot day—fresh, no nothing added!) on the top of the cliff at the beginning of the trail. He helped us find the trail, then when we got down to the bottom of the valley, he helped us stay on the right trail!

Again, very lovely views! We also met a very nice older couple visiting from Scotland but living in South Africa. We meet the most interesting people when we travel! =) They were coming from the opposite direction from us, so we helped them stay on the trail, and they helped us know what to expect up ahead. The ground was very sandy, I’m assuming rather desert-like. But we also saw a lot of olive, pomegranate, apple, and unidentified fruit trees. There were even a few small vegetable and fruit gardens in the valley, so that was neat to see—real people live and work there!

We were both hungry by the time we got back to town (I was actually what I would call famished, my family might call it “fussy”), and we ended up going to a restaurant where NO ONE was in a hurry! Andrea said hers was good, but mind wasn’t all that great. I’ve not been entirely impressed with the “authentic” Turkish cuisine, which is a bummer. But I was hungry, and I just needed my food! We met up with Dan at the hotel in time to catch the airport shuttle, and off we went!

The trip to Kayseri airport was about an hour, and I even took a nap! I think the hike depleted me! There was no problem getting through the airport to our terminal, but there was a bit of confusion once we got to the terminal. Luckily enough, a kind young Turkish  woman told us that our plan was boarding—at the next gate over. =)

The flight was uneventful (I even took another mini-nap!), we caught the train, rode about an hour to our final destination, and the guy from our “Guest House” came to pick us up from the train station. His wife is Canadian, so checking in was super easy!

And so ends our Goreme/Kapadokia adventure. And so begins our Selcuk (pronounced “sell-chuck”) and Ephesus adventure! Stay tuned for pictures!

Kapadokia Pictures: 5-7 September!

Enjoy!

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Cappadocia, Cave churches, and Balloon rides! =)

Whew! Yesterday was quite a day! Probably our most relaxing yet, actually. We started out with a late breakfast (made to order, included in the hotel stay!) and took to the hills! First stop: Reservations for a hot-air balloon ride! I was the only one who’s really interested in going—yep, had to be up at 5 in the morning!

Next stop: Open-air Museum! It’s an area where several early Christian churches are dug out into caves. Many of the huge rocks around here have been used as homes (yes, cave-dwellings as late as the 1980s), but the churches haven’t been used for a few hundred years.

On the road, we got a bit side-tracked and went up to another church on a hill. We got up there and were about to turn around, but the guy was very nice and let all three of us go for the price of one ticket. It’s inside an above-ground rock formation, which I find really interesting. We got to go in, and I was a little bit surprised at how small it was. There are many many cave churches around here, and they’re all small. It made me wonder how many people attended a service, and how they conducted services. The man at the place showed us the frescoes (paintings) inside on the ceiling—it’s amazing how long they’ve lasted!

The guy was very nice and asked us in the ticket office for tea, which is typical of the people here. They’re really very hospitable! The tea was very good, and while he didn’t speak a whole lot of English, he spoke enough to have a bit of a conversation with us. He also showed us a brochure of things to see around Cappadocia (by the way, it’s pronounced Cap-a-dok-ee-a—sort of like “okee dokee” ;) haha). He had to leave to attend to more customers, so we took the brochure with us and were about to be on our way. But on our way out, he stopped us because he wanted us to see the “Pigeon House” in the back. We almost declined, but figured why not!

So we trekked back there, taking pictures of wild-growing pomegranates and olives along the way (so cool!), and when we got up to it, we were a bit underwhelmed. There were holes in this big (read: HUGE) rock, which we assumed were for pigeons. Bigger than what we thought a pigeon could carve out on its own, but ok. Maybe they used to have massive pigeons here.

So then Mr. Ticketmaster came up behind us and started explaining what it actually was. He said we could climb up (there were holes that looked about right for climbing), so I happily obliged!

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to me, Mr. Ticketmaster alerted my dear travelling companions that they should go up the back way, which happened to be a hidden entrance! So there I was climbing my little heart out and wishing I’d given my camera to Andrea or Dan instead of having it in my pocket, and the guy says, “Wait! Problem!” And I was thinking, “What? This is getting easier as I go up; what could be a problem?” He started saying something about my friends, so now I was getting really confused. And finally, I hear Andrea and Dan from up at the top, “Hey! Yeah! We’ll help you up!”

AH! They totally startled me, but what a funny joke for him to play! I was absolutely falling for the assumption that he wanted me to climb through the larger of the two pigeonholes! So then he helped me climb down, gave me a good-natured pat on the shoulder, and showed me how to get up inside around the back. What a sweetheart!

So then he explained to us the REAL purpose of the structure… They used it for making wine! There was a carved out hole, about 2 or so inches deep, and he said they used to put the grapes in there and stomp on them with their feet. There was a hole going out of it where the juice would drain out to another carved-out place where they would gather the stuff for wine. It was still stained bluish-purple! There were also shelves where they would keep the wine until it was ready. Pretty cool… just like I Love Lucy did it! ;)

Second purpose of the structure: Homing Pigeon House! That’s right, they really used homing pigeons, and they kept them in this place. Sorry for the picture delay. They’re coming, I promise!

And so then it was truly time to leave. We still needed to get to the museum! But first we stopped at a bathroom where we figured they’d have toilet paper. Never miss an opportunity, you know. ;) We had been stranded without the essentials the day before!

Now moving on. (The bathroom was nice, by the way!) To get to the museum, we needed to walk through a street bazaar. Fair enough. They were selling anything and everything Turkish and touristy you can think of, as well as food and fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice! We didn’t stop for any, but it was neat to see everyone out and about doing their thing. We also stopped to pet the camels along the way. Sorry, no pics of them. 5 Lira for a pic, 20 for pics and riding. I’ll get a pic when I ride one. =)

To the museum! It’s called an open-air museum because it’s all outside. It’s this well-preserved area of REAL cave-dwellings that are hundreds, some over a thousand, years old! There are several churches there to see, all of which have some sort of artwork on the walls and/or ceilings. It seems like all the churches there were Catholic, or at least early forms of Catholic. Many of them put a lot of emphasis on Mary, and the paintings looked a lot like stained-glass, so maybe that’s why they started using stained glass—it looked like the paintings and frescoes they liked? Ha, talkin’ like I know somethin’! Anyway, they were very unique. Most, if not all, of the churches showed that primitive paintings of red crosses were painted first, then the frescoes were painted on top of those The guy in the church outside of the museum said the cross there was painted in the 9^th century, and the frescoes were painted in the 10^th century.

I am very curious about these early churches. Like I said, a lot of their frescoes seemed to be heavy on the Catholic leaning of Christianity. Some of them focused on Jesus more than Mary, but they all still seemed more Catholic than anything else to me. I’m just curious about how they conducted services and what their traditions were, or their reasoning for doing what they did in worship. The churches were also very tiny. How many did they usually fit in there? Did they have more than one service? Why were there so many of them so close together? Perhaps this was the original “Bible Belt”. ;) I say that with a twinge of facetiousness. =)

But seriously, I wonder a lot about them. Is what we can read from history very accurate? I prayed that this trip would help me come to a better understanding of the beginnings of Christianity, and behold! I am certainly curious enough to do some significant research!

The most impressive site, though, was at the very end—of course, always save the best for last! One of the churches is named the “Dark Church” because there was almost no light that has ever gone into it on a consistent basis. The frescoes are almost perfect—like they were painted yesterday! No pictures were allowed, but it was so beautiful. We stayed in there a good long while looking at it all. A guide came in at one point and started explaining some of the pictures, but we could all see what they were anyway. Andrea and I both said we’re curious about the things that weren’t totally clear. If ever you come to Goreme (pronounced “Go-re-may”), it’s worth the few extra lira to see something so well-preserved!

By then it was about 2:30 or so, and we were HUNGRY! And so we decided to stop in the place with the nice bathrooms. =) It’s a very nice place, although I can’t remember what it’s called! It’s just down the hill from the Open-Air Museum, and right across from a pottery shop and one of the hot-air balloon take-off spots. We picked it because we’d heard about the smashing pottery meal we needed to have—and they make it! It’s called a pottery kebab (or kebap, depending on who you ask!), and it’s stewed meat and vegetables (or in Dan’s case, only veggies!) that have been slow-cooking in the clay pots over the fire for several hours. You order what you want, they bring it out, and you get to use a metal stick to open it! Very cool and VERY Cappadocian! Either we were super hungry, or it was just that good—I think we would all agree it was just that good! I also got yogurt with honey for dessert. I like the stuff I can get at home, but I wanted to try the “real” stuff. Very good! Chunkier than what I get from Giant or Trader Joe’s, but I liked it!

Next up, more pottery! Since there was a pottery shop right across the dirt road (I keep hearing that Jason Aldean song playing in my head—great song!), we had to stop in! All the shops we’ve stopped in seem to be run by families and going back several generations. I think we all bought something there. I got a small pot to use as a bud vase back at my apartment, and I’m very excited about it! I was looking for it the day before in Adana, but never did find what I wanted. But this is it! It’s got the traditional Hittite design on it, so it’s very Turkish and it’s hand-made, hand-painted ceramic from Cappadocia! Happy day. =) Andrea and Dan also got things there, so it’s a good thing we stopped in!

On our way through town on the way back to the hotel, we stopped in some places to find out about renting ATVs or a car so we could go see things in the more out-lying areas. We ended up meeting this really nice man (forgive me for not remembering his name!) at one of the rental shops. He gave us a good price for a rental car, ATV, and/or balloon ride. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my money back and get the better deal on the balloon ride, but he was nice just the same. Dan decided to go on back to the cave hotel to get some work done (bummer—having to work on vacation!), so Andrea and I explored some of the other shops for ourselves. We made a friend in the last shop we went in because Andrea struck up a conversation (I didn’t start it this time!). She told him she’s from Atlanta, and he started in on a story about a time he was in Atlanta, and before you knew it we were eating Turkish Delight and we made a friend! I like it, folks!

And this morning was… the Great Balloon Ride Extravaganza! Up at 5:00, picked up in a van with a bunch of people I don’t know, ate a little, not so wonderful pre-packaged muffin and instant coffee, and then it was time to get into the balloon! It looked like mass chaos to me, but somehow all 300 or so of us were distributed fairly evenly into the balloon baskets—each of which can hold up to 36 people! The pilot for my balloon was a guy from Michigan, believe it or not! He was an airplane pilot for 20 years, parachute pilot for several years, started parachuting, and at some point about 6 years ago he parachuted out of a balloon and decided to start flying balloons! So here he is, flying balloons in Goreme, Turkey! He said he’s been here since March and will be here till October or so. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me! He said the conditions here are incredible because the winds change as you go up or down—faster, slower, change directions, etc. The balloons they use are the largest in the WORLD, and they’re all within 100 meters apart from each other, but they’re all going different directions and not running into each other. Amazing!

Speaking of wind conditions, and interesting side note is that the Fairy Chimneys and interesting rock formations were made because of wind and natural erosion and such—not man-made except for the houses inside! Super cool, folks.

So there we were, flying high in the sky and gazing down at the rocks below… and before we knew it, we were floating AMONG them, not above! So cool! We could see for miles (or kilometers, depending on who you ask)! Off in the distance we saw a volcano with the sun rising over it, in the other direction we could see Uchisar Castle (a rock-cave Castle on a hill!), and all around us was blue sky with NO CLOUDS! Love it. Pictures to come soon!

Fun thing about landing a balloon… you have to turn backward, squat down, and grab the rope handles provided. Yes, it is indeed a semi-controlled crash, no breaks included! It was fun, though! Once we landed (in the road, against a dirt bank), our pilot actually “floated” us up onto the truck bed and we were driven down the road a ways! It was just an all-around fun experience! And at the end we had, what I found out later, the traditional champagne celebration! Apparently, after the first hot-air balloon flight, the fliers landed in some Frenchmen’s field, and the field owners were NOT happy! But never fear—the fliers had some champagne in the basket (for just such an occasion), so they poured some for the farmers and everyone was happy, so now it’s a tradition to have champagne after a balloon flight. Luckily, they also served cherry juice, so I had that instead. =)

And then I came back to the hotel for breakfast! This afternoon was less of an adventure, but I got to try out my Turkish Coffee and the famous Cappadocian rice pudding! The coffee was gross, the rice pudding was AMAZING! I like exploring new places through their food. What a day! Looking forward to tomorrow! 

Adana Pictures!

Please enjoy!!!

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Adana Pictures!

Please enjoy!!!

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Adana to Avanos to Goreme: Road Trip!

After quite a bit of complication trying to figure out transportation from Adana to Goreme (long story!), the Turkish Skirmish Travel Team decided to suck it up and rent a car for the drive up! And we’re glad we did!

Randi went with us to a bakery a few blocks away for breakfast, then we picked up the rental car (Ford Focus, the only automatic they had since none of us is comfortable with the stick shift), loaded up, and got on our way! We drove for a couple of hours, and around noon we decided to find a place for lunch. We ended up in a little place (calling it a restaurant would be a lie!) and ate what they offered us. It was pretty good, but way overpriced, which I’m sure they thought they could get away with since we’re Americans. He told us thirty, but then we figured out his English was just bad and he meant forty. Definitely not worth it. They seem so nice, and some are, but the ones that are out to get your money are ruthless. He also said we could use the bathroom after we ate, but then he said there was no bathroom when we asked him about it on our way out. Oh well. We found one anyway!

Next stop, an underground Hittite city! Over 100 have been found and excavated, and there are another 130 or so believed to be in the caves around here! It was so cute because these little kids were our “guides”, and they used what little English they knew, plus hand motions to explain what the rooms were used for. They kids were so precious! These folks really knew how to make it work living in a cave. They were able to hide out and build fires because the type of rock in the cave absorbs smoke!

Next stop… Avanos! They are known for their pottery, and the all the stuff was beautiful! They made a lot of original things, as well as Hittite and Ottoman-style pottery. The people were friendly and definitely not as pushy as they were in Istanbul. We got ice cream (are you noticing a trend?) and walked around the little town a lot, which was super cute, then around 8 or so we headed to our hotel.

Cue next adventure! We drove around Goreme, which is a cute, small, touristy town, and we had trouble finding the hotel. We stopped in to ask someone, and they directed us up this alley-type “road” up a hill. Up and up and up we went, and finally we were flagged down by our rental car guy! The renal car place drops off and picks up wherever you want, so we’d asked them to pick up the car at the hotel, and lucky us we didn’t even have to look for him! He showed us where to go, then helped us get our stuff to the hotel. The roads are small enough that you can’t even drive all the way up them! The guy at the front desk checked us in and showed us to our room—it’s so cute! It really is in a cave, and the view is beautiful! The Fairy Chimneys were lit up at night, but you could also still see the stars. Definitely recommending this place! The only kind of funny thing is that the bathroom and shower are all together—no door, no curtain, just the door to the bathroom!

And then it was bedtime! Andrea and Dan went out to explore the town a little bit and pick up some water, but I wasn’t feeling 100%, so I went to bed instead and had a pretty good night’s sleep! Breakfast was good—no buffet, just made to order!—and now we’re headed out to explore Goreme! There’s an open-air museum and a few other things we’re looking forward to trying out today. Wish us luck! =) 

Adana: the Land of Ruins, Paul’s Birth, The Med, and Castles in the Sea!!!

Day one in Adana was a great success! Randi got us from the airport and showed us around Adana. We got back to her and Dan’s house (her husbands name is Dan, not to be confused with our Dan!) and got the low-down on what to see and do all over Turkey, especially in Adana! We needed to rent a car, so we ended up using one from a guy in a shop down the street! He let us rent his personal vehicle for the day and said for us to fill it up to where it was when we left, and to have it back by 9:00 so he could drive home. This would never happen in the States, but here we go! =)

Randi drove for us, since we’re not used to driving a stick shift, nor do we know the area. So off we went! Dan stayed home to get some work done, but the rest of us went off to Tarsus, the place where Paul was born. We saw where he supposedly lived and where his family supposedly got their well water from, which was pretty cool, even if it’s not the real thing. It’s in the real general area! =) We stopped at several random and very interesting spots, such as Cleopatra’s gate, the Snake Man statue, ruins of a Roman bath, and ate lunch at a restaurant right next to a waterfall (my favorite creation!). We got to have our first authentic Turkish meal there, and I think we were all pleased! Dan is a vegetarian, and Andrea doesn’t like tomatoes, so they’ve been restaurant troublemakers, but we’ve all turned out with things we’ve enjoyed! =)

Next stop, Blood Valley! It’s called Kanlidivane in Turkish, and it’s where the Romans built a city on top of a cliff, and when they needed to punish someone, they threw them off a cliff. Not a good story, but definitely some awesome ruins! A university was in the process of excavating parts of it, but pretty much once we paid our three Lira, we could roam around wherever we wanted! The pictures from there are amazing—it’s impossible not to take gorgeous pictures of history like that! There were basilicas, houses, wells, graveyards, reliefs carved into columns, a family carved into the cliff face, a soldier carved into the cliff, a cave house (which was also down the cliff and we decided not to go down that far!), and goats climbing into the cave house. Very Turkish!

After climbing around there for who knows how long, we set out again… for the Med! That’s what the locals call the Mediterranean Sea! We had to make a couple more stops along the way, however. There was a Roman aqueduct and amphitheatre we got out to explore along the way, which also had in it some really elaborate tile designs of fish and interesting patterns. These folks knew how to make something grand for sure! These things were built in the 2^nd century A.D…. You see these things in movies and on TV and even in pictures, but to see them up-close and in real life just blows my mind! It’s amazing! Not only are these things just that ancient, they’re still standing! Aside from that, it’s also within sight of the Med! Some things are just astounding.

Next adventure—turning the car around on a cliff… did I mention it’s a stick-shift? Randi is absolutely the best driver ever! Turkish people were walking right in front of the car (super slowly!), and we ended up stalling on the hill (again, on a cliff!). But never fear, Randi got us back down the hill and on we went—to the Med!

We drove into the beach parking lot and—quite literally—squeezed into a spot! We certainly saved the best for last (keep in mind we’d been up since 3 A.M. and had seen a LOT that day!). There were two castles—one on the edge of the water, and one IN THE SEA! We went climbing around the ruins of the castle on the land, and took lots of pictures! We could plainly see the castle in the sea (which was a fortress to keep away Cretan Pirates!), and I can say with confidence that it was the most breath-taking site of the day. The beach was really crowded (we saw many a woman in a “burkini”!), and there were people out in boats and parasailing over the castle, and it was just beautiful. It was a great place to see the sunset and the perfect ending to our day of sightseeing! We dipped our toes in the Med and set out again for home! Turkey is so underrated!

After another close call with the car—tight squeeze into the parking lot=a tight squeeze out as well!—we were back on track! We dieseled up the car (with more than a little difficulty from the Turks at the gas station—at one point we had two calculators out figuring up the price because they didn’t think we women could do the math apparently!), returned it to the shop owner we’d borrowed it from, and went to dinner!

Randi and Dan are regulars at the Moonlight Café just down the street, and they said they have the best Turkish food around! I had an interesting experience at the bathroom before we got our food. We’re next to an air base (where Randi and Dan are teachers), so there are a lot of Americans who go to the shops and restaurants here. Lots of people have expressed concern about my safety and they way Turkish men treat women, etc., but I can safely say that the only problem I’ve had is with a drunk American military guy. This is not to cause alarm, only to say that it’s really not any more dangerous or uncomfortable here than it is back in the States. =) He was just talking, but he was definitely drunk and way too friendly.

Anyway, back to the food! They make warm hummus, and all their food is colorful and yummy and smelled great! Andrea and I split a kebab sampler thing, and it was great! We shared chicken, beef, Adana (which was lamb kebab with spices), rice, and pita bread. We also all dove into the appetizers—hummus, cheesy pita, regular pita, sauces—sweet, spicy, and savory!), salad, and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting. It was so good, and we left full and happy! Andrea and I got to have the “Special Tea” after our meal—which consisted of one of the waiters coming over with teacups and tipping them over on us! (They were empty.) That is their “specialty”, and we absolutely fell for it! =)

Bedtime! Well, shower time first. I think we all slept like rocks! By the time we got in bed, it was around midnight, and we were officially pooped!

The next morning (Sunday), we woke up whenever—I woke up first, of course… silly sleep habits—and started planning out the day. Andrea and I ended up going into town on the dolmush (spelled wrong, but I don’t have the correct symbols on my computer to spell it right!), which is a bus that takes people all around town for 1.5 Lira. Dan stayed back at the house to get some work done, which is kind of a bummer for him. The three of us went out to get something to eat at a local place for lunch to go, and of course we got the real Turkish lunch option, durem! It’s like a wrap, sort of, with meat (we got chicken), tomatoes, lettuce, spices, and ketchup. It is very good! Andrea and I hopped on the Dolmush with our durem and were on our way! We went to the big mosque downtown, whose name I do not know, but it’s the biggest in all of Turkey! We went inside, and it’s very pretty, but very dark. It’s much newer than the others—just built a few years ago, not thousands of years ago. =)

We also took a beautiful walk through the gardens on the grounds. There were several water features and benches and places to sit and picnic, and I got me some more yummy ice cream! =) Nothing better on a hot day.

Afterward, we walked on the Roman bridge across the way, which used to be part of the Silk Road! Now I’ve been on part of the Silk Road in Japan and Turkey. So cool! We looked for a market that was supposed to be downtown and really a big deal, but no one seemed to know what we were talking about! The nice man at the Hilton helped us out, but we never did get to the market. Oh well. There will be more!

Randi came to pick us up around 3:30, and we came back to the house. I put my pictures on the computer and am in the process of editing them for posting, so you’ll get a link for those soon! =) We got ready for church on base that evening, and Randi and Dan took us around the base. I’d never been on a military base before, so it was actually an interesting experience! We saw Dan’s classroom and went to the BX (like Wal-Mart), then went over to church. Their group is about 20 people, and they were all very excited to have visitors! The ladies are studying 1 John, and I really got a lot out of the study. The men are studying Hebrews, so Dan was on his own! The church service takes place in a rec room-type place that’s set up like a coffee shop, and so they set up chairs and put our songbooks and kaboom—we have a place to worship. =) The people were so nice, and they seem like a good group for an area like this. One of the men was talking to us later, and I found out he’s from Nashville! Small world, folks.

And after church, we went to supper at the base bowling alley! Haha. We got some good ol’ American food to remember where we came from. ;) We got home and talked for a while, figuring out what to see on the way up to Cappadocia! We’re hoping to stop off at a Hittite underground village, market, ruins, and other stuff along the way!

And so now, on Monday morning, we’re about to set out on our way! Randi and Dan have been SO helpful! We are extremely thankful and humbled by their hospitality—they really didn’t know any of us before this trip! Wish us luck and most importantly, say a prayer!

Thanks for reading along with us!

Love, Quick Whit

Istanbul Pictures!

Just in case you're interested!!!! =) 

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The Day of the Palace Venture!

Hey there everyone! Hope everyone’s doing well and enjoying life! =) Andrea, Dan, and I are livin’ it up Turkey-style these days! Friday was our second and last full day in Istanbul, and we decided to go to the Topkapi Palace—boy are we glad we decided to devote the day to it! After breakfast we walked over to the palace, and instead of taking the guided tour, we did our own using our guidebook to do dramatic readings from. It was quite the experience! And just for grins we peppered our day with show tunes—or songs from various Disney and Rogers & Hammerstein movies. =)

It was really big and right on this cliff overlooking the Bosphorus Straight, and of course it was quite the exorbitant and beautiful, and it seemed to go on forever! There were mosaics on the walls and marble on the floors, and basically it looked like a palace right out of Aladdin! This is indeed a whole new world—we don’t see this kind of stuff every day! =) One of the more interesting things about the palace was the influence of both European and Asian architecture. Istanbul actually does straddle Europe and Asia, and the Bosphorus Straight is the dividing line, so I thought it was really interesting to see both kinds of building styles all over the place, even in the same structure! The thing that looked most European to me were the windows—white outer walls and wooden shutters. The Asian influence was apparent in the decoration and the curved roofs on some of the buildings. Interesting to me. =)

Probably the coolest thing in the palace was something quite surprising. An exhibit about ancient weaponry! Wish we could have taken pictures, but it wasn’t allowed in that exhibit. There were swords literally twice my size, maces, guns with mother of pearl for decoration, horsehair somethings (we thought those were a little weird), archery equipment of all sorts, daggers, everything you could think of! Some of the stuff was made over a thousand years ago—and maybe a couple of thousand years ago—and a lot of it was gifted to the sultan of the time from Russia, Iran, China, France, and other places of power. It was really interesting to see the various materials they used and the ways the weapons were made. There were curved swords and squiggly swords and bows with various types and sizes of arrows, etc. There were a couple of displays of armor, too, as well as ceremonial garb—very elaborate!

We ate a snack and decided we needed to definitely see the Harem. It was sort of a palace community within the main palace—and just so you know (because I didn’t know this before!), “harem” means “private.” It was the private living quarters of the sultan’s family—his mother, his wives, his “favorite”, and all their kids, along with their servants. I always just thought it was a play place for the Sultan, but apparently it was more than that alone! The mosaics and carpets and things in the harem were quite elaborate as well, and I thought it was interesting that ALL of the ceilings were domed with paintings at the top (frescoes).

Fun fact about Istanbul: there are cats EVERYWHERE! No telling what diseases they have, but people just let them roam around! There was even one in the gift shop, asleep on a shelf, right on top of some pretty cloth thing that was for sale. I took a picture, and one of the store attendants walked right in front of me when I did it—and she didn’t even act like there was anything abnormal! I got a kick out of it because we’d been talking all about the plethora of cats all over the place. Haha!

So, after five hours exploring the palace grounds (the guidebook recommended only three!), we set out for the Cisterns! One might not think much of a water-gathering place, but these folks knew how to make it something special! Dan was a bit skeptical, but Andrea and I had heard great things about it, so we told him it was a requirement and that he needed to protect us in the depths. We were all certainly pleasantly surprised by what we saw! It was a bit tacky-touristy in the entrance, but once we got back into the bowels of the Cistern, we loved it! The columns were very Roman looking (built of course by the Byzantines!) and SO elaborate! A lot of them were brought down from other buildings and places, so they didn’t all match, but they looked REALLY cool in the dark cave-like place surrounded by water and carp fish with yellow lights shining on them. One of the special columns had a tear-drop design carved into it, and the two most famous columns were the Medusa heads! One was upside down, and the other was on her side. There were a couple of different legends written about Medusa’s origin in Greek mythology, but no real reason why she was included in the Cistern. =) Just for the cool factor! Pictures didn’t turn out too well because of the darkness on the Cistern, but if you google “Cistern Turkey” and clock on images, you’ll get some pictures from people with the right equipment. =)

So that was actually the highlight of my day! And then we ate some non-authentic (and quite disappointing!) Turkish food. They brought out French bread instead of pita, and gave us a more expensive appetizer that we didn’t order. Oh well. Live and learn—you learn all sorts of things when you travel!

And then came the Grand Bazaar! We didn’t buy anything, but we knew we needed to go for the experience! We didn’t realize it was all inside—I think we were still picturing the whole Aladdin thing with the outside street vendors and people haggling and such everywhere. It was really cool to say we’d been there, but not exactly what we expected! The only thing we bought was ice cream right outside of the bazaar. It looks more like gelato, but it’s really pliable and stretchy—kind of like cheese on pizza, but WAY better-tasting! It was VERY good!

So then it was time to trek back to the hotel. The walk back that evening was down hill, but it seemed so much longer than the walk away from it that morning! Our show tune soundtrack helped us through, though! Haha. Once back to the hotel, Dan went to get something to eat and Andrea and I ended up having to have some strong words with the hotel attendant to make sure we had our *promised* shuttle ride to the airport the next morning. And a bit later, we had to have some stronger words with the same guy and another hotel manager about the cost. Interesting the way business works around here. Don’t stay at Hotel Buyuk Keban. ;)

And then it was bedtime! And wake up time was 3:00 a.m.! Shuttle came for us, we got to the airport on time and got through security with minimal difficulty (my bag got searched!), and got breakfast at a little place in the terminal. There were some communication issues with getting my breakfast heated and getting cream or milk for my coffee, then for payment—credit cards are accepted, but sometimes not! And then we got on the plane and set out to Adana! Randi picked us up at the airport around 7:30, and we started right in! More to come… including pictures! =)

Turkish Skirmish Travel Team!

Swiaa pictures are in! Follow the public link if you wish. I'll try to provide descriptions shortly: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.668930720838.2146551.52700845&l=b278ecbf5f&type=1

Marahaba! (Hey y'all!)

I hope everyone's doing well. I can't believe how much I miss folks--there are so many cool things here! Dan, Andrea and I have already had quite the adventure!

Background info: I know Andrea from church, and she knows Dan from law school at Emory University in Atlanta. So that's the low-down. I've known Andrea all of 2 1/2 months, and I met Dan about 30 hours ago. So here we are in Turkey! We've already been mistaken for brother and sisters at least twice, and much teasing and torment has commenced. We're great travel mates! =)

So, Dan got to the hotel around 6-ish last night, and we met in person for the first time. We went to the metro station to pick up Andrea around 10:00 or so, and now we're all just seeing how long we can last together. =) We stayed up till about 12:30 making our plan of attack for Istanbul: Day 1, and then I was out for the count! Dan fell asleep shortly after, and Andrea said she got to enjoy our night time noise-making habits before she went to sleep. It's going to be a fun couple of weeks, we can already tell!

Breakfast was salad, olives, cheese, bread, jelly, honey, yogurt, fruit, scrambled creamy eggs, meat, and a few other assorted things. I like the bread, yogurt, fruit , jellies, and honey myself. I'm not a savory person, so I like to load up on sugar in the mornings. Life is sweet for me. ;) I was looking forward to having Turkish coffee this morning, but they didn't offer any! I guess because breakfast is a buffet. I'll get some before the trip is done, though. Don't you worry! ;)

First stop, the Obelisk! It was built in 1600 BC--BEFORE CHRIST! As in, 3600 years ago. Um, wow. It's got hieroglyphics on it, and it was re-erected in Istanbul in the 4th century AD. Amazing to see! We also saw several mosques. Honestly, they all kind of look the same to me (even the Blue Mosque, which is one of only two that I've actually heard of before--and it's not blue!). The line for the Blue Mosque was super long, so we decided to go one over to the Aya Sophia, which is the only other mosque I'd heard of. It's the one with the ancient mosaics in it. We got to walking from Blue to Aya, and along the way we saw people selling various breads, fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, trinkets, popcorn, and most interestingly--cord on the cob! Yes, folks, just like at a US fair. =) There were several gardens around to walk through, and lots of people dressed in all different ways. No, not every woman wears full burka or even has her head covered. I think it's a bit different the further east you go, but at least in Istanbul there are people from everywhere, dressed EVERY WAY!

So, stop number 2 was the Aya Sophia! It is absolutely impressive, and it has an amazing history! It was an orthodox patriarchal basilica from 360 AD (WOW!) until it was converted into a mosque in 1453. Then in 1931, it was designated to be a secular museum by Ataturk (the man who is the Turkish equivalent of George Washington), which opened in 1934. History lesson concluded!

At any rate, it was really amazing to see all the marble columns and doors and all the paintings and mosaic tile artwork. There was a long, winding tunnel that led from the ground floor to the balcony of the upper floor, and walking up I couldn't help but think about how many people had walked the stone floors for various purposes in the last 1640 years--sultans, emperors and empresses, various religious officials, good, bad, prisoners, soldiers, Vikings (yes, Vikings! They left graffiti), construction workers, restoration people, tourists, political officials... the list could go on and on! There were several depictions of Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Gabriel, Empresses, etc., etc., etc. Some of it had been too damaged to repair, but the parts that were still there were VERY well-preserved! I have absolutely never seen anything this old. I can't wait to get to Ephesus and see WAY more!

We spent quite a bit of time in there, then went in search of food! By the time we got to a restaurant, I'll just be honest with you, I was fading fast! As is typical when going to an authentic restaurant in another country, what we got was not what we expected, but it sure was good! Pictures to follow soon. Sorry for the delay! There are only so many hours in a day. =)

Next up, the Cisterns! Nope! It's a Turkish holiday and all Turkish folks are off work--and they can get into the Cisterns for free today, so it was quite impossibly crowded! So we decided to try out the Grand Bazaar. Nope! It was closed! Maybe for the holiday? We're not sure. So we decided to take a boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait between the European and Asian sides of the city! It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, so we got to see both of those, too! Super cool, folks, especially since we got to watch the sunset from the water! It was a bit of an adventure getting there that involved meeting someone on the crowded docks, quickly weaving our way through street vendors to a bus, riding a short (but way too long and smelly!) way to another dock, following another man and some tourists to the boat, and happily sitting on a bench and resting on the water. I promise it wasn't as shady as it may seem! ;)

And then we needed to find our way back to the hotel, which we did, and we discovered an interesting aqueduct along the way! And now we're pooped! Tomorrow's agenda involves the Topkapi Palace and Harem (yep, first stop involves a Harem!), Cisterns, Grand Bazaar and Sprice Bazaar--trying again! Glad our hotel is walking distance to everything we wanted to do! =)

Please send me your mailing address if you'd like a postcard! Some have already given me their address, but if you haven't yet, send your address to whitney_hassell@hotmail.com.

Love y'all! Keep safe!
Quick Whit