Turkey- okay so this was a big one, our summer trip for 2025. I wanted to do something slightly different, and I had some European friends who had visited and the more I looked into it the better it sounded. I was fortunate to have a friend at church who had visited on a mission trip and he connected me with a woman who had been there 33 times- so I had some great advice in planning it. Our route was as follows- Istanbul for 4 nights, Cappadocia (we stayed in Goreme) for 3 nights, Antalya for 4 nights, Parmukkale for 2 nights, then Selcuk (Ephesus) for 1 night, back to Istanbul for a quick sleep then back home…. We saw a lot!
Istanbul was an incredible city- we arrived at about 1:40 in the morning, had
around a 40min drive to our hotel in the historic area, and we all crashed good
and hard. It was funny, the next morning when we finally got up you guys asked
us who was singing outside last night and that they sounded terrible…. It was
the 4AM call to prayer that you heard since we were in a Muslim country. We
spend out first day getting a feel for the city, wandering through coffee
shops, Cora you got an opal ring, Quinn you got a Sultan Stone necklace that
changes colors depending on the lighting, and we just had a fun day as a family
with no real schedule. Day 2 we did a private cruise on a very nice boat along
the Bosporus- I think it made you guys all feel like we were rich. The weather
was perfect and the views were incredible, it was strange to be cruising a
waterway that was so critical throughout history as a link between east and
west. The rest of the week we explored ancient Byzantine / Eastern Roman
Empire sites like the Hagia Sophia, underground cisterns, the seat of the Greek
Orthodox Church and the Grand Bazaar. We also explored Mosques that were built
after the Turks invaded and conquered what was Constantinople. Our guide took
us to see a lot of things, and of course into his pre-appointed shopping stops,
in which we ended up like typical tourists acquiring a few Turkish Rugs,
evidently I have a soft spot for Turkish rugs- or I am an easy mark, maybe
both.
We then left the big city behind- flying first class because I booked the
tickets a bit late- once again you guys felt very wealthy- and arrived in
Cappadocia. This was a great stop- we stayed in a cave hotel with a wonderful
view over Goreme. This area is famous for its unique rock formations, and for
the morning hot air balloons. We tried doing the balloons but the morning we
attempted it was too windy, thankfully they are also really beautiful from the
ground. We had a great guide for two full days- exploring a lot of ancient
Christian sites where they studied and lived, often carving out homes in the
rock formations themselves. We also explored two underground cities which was
incredible, likely the highlight from this stop. The Christians who lived in
the area had first started digging these cities during the Roman persecution,
then expanded them again as Arab invaders moved in during their conquest and
spreading of Islam. The tunnel systems are complex with ventilation shafts,
locking passageways, and fresh water access, they did not live in them long
term, more of a temporary place of refuge when raiders came. Cora would not
follow us down some of the narrow passages, Deacon you loved every minute of
it, Quinn you got a bit scared, but then Deacon offered his hand to give you
courage and you explored with us. Some of the passages did not have any light
so we used our phones- and there were certainly no other tourists around but
for some reason I wasn’t scared even though I don’t typically like being in
small underground places….
From Cappadocia we headed to Antalya- a beautiful Roman city by the sea, made
famous by the Emperor Hadrian- and the gate named after him to the old city
still stands. Antalya was a very beachy Mediterranean feel, placed on the coast
line you had a wonderful view from cliffs overlooking the sea, sandy beaches
are about 25 minutes’ drive from town, and rising in the background all around
are dramatic mountains. We had a guide take us to the ancient cities of Perge
and Aspendos- which were Greek and then Roman. The cities were immense, well
planned and laid out, and some of the plumbing they had in place is actually
still there- fascinating to think that we live in a world where some people
even today do not have indoor plumbing and yet these people enjoyed it
thousands of years ago. We got to move all through the ruins, and it was mostly
tourist free. We then had some beach days and a day doing some adventures in
the mountains outside of town. The adventure was canyoneering and rafting, we
started with the canyoneering. The water was crystal clear, fed from springs, a
beautiful topaz color…. And it was pretty cold! Quinn you were first in line
after the guide- which means you got to watch him swim rapids and then you dove
right in! You did awesome and it gave the rest of us confidence watching how
you did. At the end of the rafting they offered us to either swim or hike out-
we decided to swim even though Deacon wanted to hike. We swam for about 15min
past waterfalls, through the canyon, under an old roman bridge- it was
beautiful- but Deacon was freezing and said he couldn’t feel his hands, he
recovered in the sun in time for rafting though. The rafting was also a blast,
some great rapids and wonderful scenery yet again. All in all it was a great full
day of adventures that was well needed. Deacon we also picked up your souvenir
in Antalya- you had been wanting a nice knock off watch since we arrived and
finally found one for about $10 USD, a lovely gold and red watch, we all told
you that you would have to be careful as now the ladies were not going to leave
you alone.
We then rented a car from the airport and drove a few hours down the coast to
Adrasan, a very small town on the Mediterranean with about 20 tour boats lined
up every morning to take people up and down the beautiful coast. We had a
private boat, which was actually really affordable, with a really kind Captain,
his wife who made us the best fish I have had in a long time, and his father
who used to be the Captain. The sea was beautiful, the day, the people, the
swimming, the food- if there was a most perfect day we could all agree on
during the trip this was it. We all got a little sunburned but it was worth it.
My heart was so full watching the old man teach Deacon how to fish, watching
Mom and Quinn play with Deacon in the water by dumping him off the longboard he
was floating on, seeing you explore and have exactly what you had been hoping
for Cora- all set in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
After our
perfect day at sea we drove to Pamukkale, and to one of our favorite hotels-
the Cotton House. Pamukkale is famous for calcium covered waterfalls that
cascade down a hill, from a distance it looks like snow on the mountain, but up
close its really beautiful shallow pools filled with milky white soft mud-
people believe it has healing properties- and one of you had some cut or something
on your foot that did get remarkably better after wading in the pools. The ruins
of a Roman town are above the falls, which we walked through first before
following the path through the water back to our hotel. Okay I also mentioned
that the Cotton House was our favorite hotel, well it wasn’t because it was the
fanciest.
On the
night we arrived the owner- an older man and his wife came to greet us- and
started to prepare a dinner for us- you guys had napped while I drove so you
were not as spent as I was! We all came to appreciate the delicious dinners
they made, we ate there the two nights we stayed in town. Our favorite was “mammas
meatballs” but they also had lamb and chicken. Not on the menu was the dinner
guests- cats- that would come and ask politely for food and pets. There was one
male cat- and his harem of female cats… the old man said he was very jealous of
the cat! In the morning they also made a delicious breakfast, we had a very
sweet man that worked there that took excellent care of us. You also all made friends
with our favorite kitten, we named Bumble Bee. Bumble Bee was black with some
white and orange spots- really beautiful, and was extremely friendly with you
all. We desperately wanted to take her home but that would be a lot of
paperwork and time that we didn’t really have. Don’t worry, we did take home souvenirs
from the Cotton House though…. That’s right- I got talked into another Turkish rug.
Cora I should also mention the man that worked there was so sweet to you. In
the afternoons when we would come home to rest you would go read in the garden.
The gentlemen would always bring you fresh fruit from that very same garden,
and generally just make sure you had any and every comfort available.
Cora
since we didn’t get to hot air ballon in Cappadocia, we decided to try it in
Pamukkale. Since the price was way below what they had charged before we all
decided to do it. We had our very fun 4am wakeup, then us and some feisty Russian
couples drove out to a field where there must have been 20 ballons in various
stages of being inflated. We were all a bit nervous as it was the first time
for all of us, but the liftoff was smooth and even though I am afraid of
heights I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the wicker basket as we dangled a few
thousand feet above the ground. As a note, they offered a price for pictures
from the trip while we were in the ballon, in this case it pays not to carry
much cash because they settled for what we had on hand, which was about 80% off
the asking price, good old Turkish negotiation! Deacon you and Quinn were not
too happy when we really started gaining height, and neither was your mother, Cora
you seemed generally okay with it like I was, maybe a bit less so. In any case
it was beautiful to watch the sunrise and float past the white waterfalls we
had traversed down just the day before, the view was quite spectacular from the
air. The landing was incredibly smooth, we saw a few others come down much
harder.
We also visited the ancient city of Laodicea-
which is mentioned in the bible by Jesus and also in the letters to the
churches in the book of Revelation. I find it fascinating that the book of
Revelation- about the end times- contains letters to cities that are now mere
rubble, buried under layers of dirt and rock and long since uninhabited- for
them the end time came far sooner. In any case the city had only recently begun
to be excavated, primarily due to wealthy Christian organizations. Its
wonderful they did because it was truly impressive, including the ancient
church with its mosaic flooring.
After saying
a long goodbye to our feline friends and the proprietors of our hotel we headed
out for our last stop, Selcuk, which is just outside the ancient city of Ephesus.
Since it was a longer drive we stopped halfway there at Aphrodisas, another
ancient Roman city. This one was also quite beautiful- its strange how these
large cities were never built over. For instance, Rome the new is built on the
old, in most cases around it, which is similar to a lot of other European
cities. In Turkey that is the case some places but it always made me wonder-
why some sites were completely abandoned, at one time thousands of people
decided this was a great place to live, and then slowly they just faded away
forever, in my mind its strange. In any case the city was beautiful, but the
most fun was the busloads of local school children- middle schoolish age I
think, that were really checking you guys out when we went in. Cora was pretty
sure one of them said to Deacon “nice drip nice drip”. Maybe you guys were some
of the first American kids they had seen, honestly away from the tourist areas
there were not many, and even then its mostly adults, not kids that are
tourists.
We drove
through very narrow streets, with a very stressed out father, up a verry steep
hill to our rental house- it overlooked the city and a fortress that was nearby
on a hill. That evening we went out to a local beach, which was huge, with very
warm and shallow water and splashed around for awhile to take in the Mediterranean
sea one last time. On our last full day in the country we toured Ephesus. The
city was far more crowded than any other ancient one we visited, for two
reasons, one it was famous for being a center of Christianity, as well as one
of the largest Roman cities of the ancient world, and two- it sits fairly close
to the coast and therefore cruise ships can dock nearby and shuttle thousands
of tourists off the boats each day. That and the general heat put a bit of a
damper on the experience, but it was still incredible to see, and to know we
were walking where Paul walked and preached. We also toured the Virgin Mary
house…. But I am not sure why. It was a small catholic shrine with some
evidence she might have lived there with John after Jesus was crucified. There
is a small home with a statue of her, which many people were prostrating
themselves in front of and praying- as protestants- its not really our thing to
pray to statues, let alone to anyone but
God. In any case I don’t think I need to see any more catholic shrines in my
life. The owner of the home we stayed in was gracious enough to allow for a
late checkout- so we all returned and showered and relaxed before out flight to
Istanbul, then our short stay in a terrible airport hotel for about 4 hours of
sleep before our flights home.
