Turkey or Cat- man-du??? (this name was dad's idea)

 hey everyone this is Clarissa (the previous posts were made by dad). By the way Turkey was AWESOME! I love the culture there and the food! the apple tea is delicious and the people are so friendly even when they are not trying to sell you something... =] 

ok, one thing to  know about Turkey, there are cats... EVERYWHERE! its crazy (as you will see at the end  of this post) they are really all over the place, just stray cats, so i decided to get pictures of them throughout our trip. so this post is completely dedicated to the cats all over Turkey (with some extra info on the side). =]

Exhibit A: (above) a cat crawling over the ruins of ancient Ephesus.

This is one cat we saw in Cappadocia. This is actually in the underground city. 

(did you know that part of star wars was actually filmed in Cappadocia, i wanted to go see the actual place it was filmed but we didn't have enough time =[  The part that was filmed there was the pd racing scene in the first movie and throughout Cappadocia you could really see where their inspiration for the planet tatooine came from)

Even though you can't really tell this cat is sitting in the Hagia Sophia (a beautiful mosque in Istanbul).

 
    this was the last and probably weirdest of our cat experiences... this guy was just walking around the turkish market place like this... with the cat sitting calmly on his head the whole time!  I just had to get a picture of it! (dad says its the cat in the hat) =]

Turkish Memories - Day Two

On Sunday evening, we traveled to the town of Selchuk near the site of ancient Ephesus.  Our day two highlights were visits to: 1) the site of the temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; 2) the ruins of ancient Ephesus; and 3) the home where some traditions say Mary, the mother of the Lord, lived during the last years of her life. 

The site of the temple of Artemis.  The columns were carried off and used elsewhere.

The upper gate entrance to the city of Ephesus.  

The circles behind Clari are clay water pipes (2500 years old)

Another view of the clay pipes running through the ground for waste and fresh water.

This is the ancient "audion" where speeches were given.

We are sitting on the top row with the lower part of the city in the background.

As you can see, the city is located in a valley between fairly steep hills on both sides.

It sloped down to a port in the lower end of the city.  The port was silted in more than 1500 years ago and the Aegean is now several kilometers away.

Another view of the audion.  Seating capacity was about 10,000.

The road leading from the upper city to the lower city.

Clari and Lisa with a statue of Nike.

A fountain or statue used to stand here.

The ancient system of public toilets.  Water ran underneath to carry waste away.

Clean water ran in the groove in front of Lisa's feet so that users could clean up when they were finished.

The ancient library in Ephesus.

The theater where the silversmiths gathered to stir up the people against Paul (see Acts 19).

Things were a little calmer during our visit. Clarissa went up as far as permitted and could still hear us talking in normal voices.  In this venue plays were performed and gladiators fought.

Exiting the city from the lower part.  This road used to lead to the harbor.

Beyond the trees on the right are the ruins of a Roman bath where all who arrived were required to bath before entering the city.

The house where tradition has it Mary spent her last days.  It is fairly certain that John brought her to Ephesus five years after the crucifixion and that she spent her final days here.  This house is high in the mountains outside of Ephesus and was not identified as Mary's until several hundred years after her death.

Turkish Memories - Day One

This is our first attempt to blog and this represents the fourth time we have written the post only to lose it when the photos were added.  Let's hope this works.

This and the following posts share some of the adventures and knowledge we gained as a family during a recent visit to Turkey.

On Sunday, December 21, we attended church at the branch in Izmir.  There were about 20 people present - less than 10 members.  It was an interesting experience to address people who have no Christian tradition on the Sunday before Christmas.  It helped remind us of the true focus of the season.  It was also ironic to attend church in a city where a branch existed nearly two millenia ago.  Anciently, Izmir was known as Smyrna.  There is ample evidence that Paul and John taught and served there.  John's Revelation was addressed to the seven churches in Asia and included Smyrna (Revelation 1:11).

Our walk to church took us through the park