Pictures of The First Week

Today I will be posting a bunch of photos with quick descriptions of where and when it was taken.  I have many other pictures of Istanbul (which comes at the end) but they are on Adam's camera and he is out talking a walk at the moment.  Those will be up soon.

This first photo is of the view outside of the Istanbul (Ataturk) Airport.  After we landed, Ann needed to have a moment outside and Adam and I joined her so we could all navigate security together.  The Turkish people are very patriotic and we have seen the Turkish Flag all over.

This is the river that flows through Tarsus.  We went out to a nice dinner and this was our view of the falls.  It is said that Alexander the Great bathe in this river.

This is Cleopatra's Gate.  This is just three blocks away from the school and it has been restored so that it does not fall down.  This is a bit of the original walls of the city, and it is said that Marc Anthony and Cleopatra first met and fell instantly in love here.  An interesting bit of information is that the Mediterranean Sea once came inland to nearly this point.  That is about 20 miles from where the sea is today.

The city of Tarsus wanted to build a parking garage and started to dig the foundations when these Roman ruins were discovered.  You can see that the road is still in okay shape and that it extends under the city each way.  The city is bound by historical preservation laws and can not build new constructions where ruins are found, so builders are careful to not dig lest the project be scrapped.

This is a picture of what the old streets of Tarsus look like.  They are narrow and paved with stones.

This is another shot of the buildings.  They look like they should be empty to me, but they have been continually lived in for hundreds of years.

This shot is for dad.  The iron work in the houses and in the gates are all different and wonderful.

This shot is taken form the highest point in Tarsus.  The "hill" is thought to be the site of a Roman Amphitheater.  We are lucky that the school sits on part of this hill and offers a bit (like 3%) of a breeze.  This past week the weather has been in the upper 90s and 100% humidity.

Here is Adam.  We were on a tour of Tarsus and were looking at Daniel's Tomb.  My shots of the tomb all turned out super dark and really are not worth showing.

Here we are having a tasty bit of Turkish dinner.  This place does not have it's own oven so you must plan on about three hours for dinner.  After you order, the cook makes up the dish in these clay baking dishes that are the size of a large pizza and about two inches deep.  This is walked across the street to the bread shop and placed in their oven to cook.  If the bread shop is busy, the wait is more.

Here is a shot of Adam and I.  This is at about 9 pm eating out side in Mersin by the lake and we are still sweating like crazy.

This is in Istanbul again.  My camera struggles with low light, so this is blurry.  Our first night in Istanbul, Ann and I walked from our hotel to Taksim Square.  We saw many street vendors, eateries, and shoppers.  The stores were just closing up at 11 pm.

This video is of a "Native American" music group playing on the street.  Ann and I were giggling like nuts watching these guys.  I hope you can see it okay.

We have seen so much and sometimes I forget to get my camera out.  I love you all!