the ephesians...the pihlajas...oh and the lindbloom

the pihlaja kids have experienced ruins a ton this year while in turkey...and i appreciated their willingness to go to yet one more with the lindbloom...

i really was not sure what to expect at ephesus...when in rome last year, some of my most memorable stops were ruins and i was really impacted by them...

ephesus was once a city of over 200,000 people...and the uncovered ruins are many...there is so much to see and yet you know that there has to be more, so much beneath the earth to accommodate the many thousands of ephesians who once lived here and walked these uneven stone streets...

this is a picture of the largest theatre space...

paul preached here (yes i am talking about the biblical paul)...it was here he delivered a sermon to the ephesians about paganism (at least that is what the audio tour said)...

 it seems strange...feels weird...to be in these historic places...to stand where others stood...

the most impressive of the ruins is the library...really fantastic...

on a side note...it was one hot day...although allegra over heard a tour guide saying how cool it was compared to other afternoons...the kids and i took a granola bar and water break at the library...i am looking in need of such a stop i would say...

the trip to the latrine was also a highlight...i was tickled at the thought of this community outhouse...oh the business :) that must have been accomplished here...with a set up like this how could it not be a social event...

 the blue sky made for a great backdrop....

 this is hercules...

the view from the top of the street...

 a little time out in the shade...

joce is also a shutter bug...so the pics at the end of the day are many...i am loving the hat :)

after the heat we stopped for something to drink and eat...this is a potato gozleme...like a crepe (sort of-not as eggy)...yum!

we left the entrance and made our way to the taksi stop to ask about pricing for transport...they wanted too much so we decided to walk...we were followed on foot and by taksi with drivers lowering the price and trying to gain our business...they were not able to meet joce at her "rock bottom" price and so the walk to the road to flag down a dolmus (mini bus) began.  it was great fun...

haakon is playing angry birds on my iphone and i am singing to him...some crazy old camp song...

apparently we are quite entertaining...the "look back" from joce and allegra confirms 

after a cozy ride on the dolmus we arrive at the aegean sea...

 here are 4 johnson-pihlajas bobbing in the aegean...this is the saltiest water i have ever been in...was soooooo good to cool off after our day in the sun at ephesus and the ride in the dolmus...

 allegra...

 i love this pic...here are the j-ps at the dolmus stop...i am not sure what caught their attention...it was not long though and the dolmus picked us up...homeward bound...

 when we returned we rinsed the salt...put on clean clothes and hit the streets...these lanterns caught my eye...after a fantastic dinner (am loving turkish bread-tonight the bread basket came with fresh lavash) we hit the shops and i ended up buying a few lanterns for the porch at home...

tuesday, the fourth of july, we are going to spend the day at turkey's largest water park...i have to admit that i am really enjoying traveling with leggy and haak...not sure a water park would have been on the agenda without them here...i am really looking forward to the day...slides...pools...the hot turkish sun...and a swim with dolphins...yep i said a swim with dolphins...this has been a "dream" since i was 10 i think...so haak, leggy and their abla kirsten (that's me) are going to take a dip...

kir :)

for gin:

to the moon...

this morning we packed up and headed to space camp to pick up miss allegra...it was a 6 day experience...this girl was jealous for sure...what an amazing experience...we arrived in time to attend the graduation "ceremony"...all of the 160+ campers were given certificates, there were group awards and three individual awards given...our allegra won "the right stuff" award...was really exciting for her and for her crew cheering in the stands...took a few pics...

 after the ceremony we began the journey to kusadasi...we took a crazy taksi ride and stopped for lunch before the two dolmus (little bus) rides...ate my first turkish pide (pizza like)...

the wait for dolmus #1 was about 30 minutes...it was one hot and sticky day...here is my man haak...patiently waiting...

 here is the beautiful allegra...so glad to have her in the mix...

 the waiting really gave me a chance to take pics...

these two (byron and leggy) are looking like seasoned "waiters"

 the first dolmus ride was actually pleasant...a small, very full, air conditioned bus took us about an hour to our connecting dolmus...the second ride was a much more of a challenge...a small and very full bus with hot air (air conditioner was just not doing it)...so with windows closed the sweat became serious sweat...oh man i was ready to get off that bus...

with the buses behind us we made our way to our hotel...the location is fabulous (heart of the city on the top of the market)...this is part of the view from my room...our first order of business was to get body temp under control and so we took a quick "thank you Jesus" dip in the pool...

 cooled off and hungry we hit the market in search of dinner... along the way we found a few sites to document...the fact that there are mannequins in the stores is not the funny part about this...the giggles and "you have got to be kidding" comes with the condition of the mannequins...i am not sure where they are getting these things but they are seriously in need of repair...a little tlc...and in some cases burial...

 after a great dinner and a little shopping we worked our way down to the water to see the sunset...

 amazing....

 this is one of my favorite shots of the day....

 time to mark our spot...

 the johnson-pihlajas...

 one incredible sunset...

 it just kept getting better

when the sun returns we will be on our way to ephesus...in the afternoon we will make a stop at the beach...

kir

this flying turkey has landed

after 7 hours in the istanbul airport (it was a long night) i boarded a plane for izmir.  when i arrived friend byron was there to welcome me to turkey...we took the train, the metro and a taksi (yes i typed taksi...there is much about this place that makes me smile) to the apartment they were renting for the week.  along the way it was clear that i was in for quite a trip.  my eyes busy...the landscape of housing...the people on the train.  it took about an hour or so, we arrived and after a much desired and much needed shower and a nap we hit the streets...

both joce and byron were quick to tell me how progressive izmir was...joce compared it to seattle...my eyes are not seeing seattle.  she is seeing the city after a year of living in "rural" turkey...she has on her turkish glasses...this girl is wearing a different pair of glasses for sure...

the market was our first stop...vender after vender and tons of stuff...

 we stop for coffee (okay i had a coke zero but this is joce's coffee)...the little candies in the dish are a variety of turkish delight...

 so much to look at...

 i could not resist taking this pic...there are mannequins in the store fronts (there will be more coming about the mannequins)...the style takes a little getting used to...

i am missing my gin and wanted to try and capture the best of the market...these are bins of pepper and red pepper flakes...my gin loves her food photos....

ah...another "have to take" photo...these lovely ladies are sporting swim wear for the modern muslim woman...i expect that i will see some of these in use in the next couple of days with trips to the beach and turkey's largest water park on the agenda...

 more spice for gin (babe i wish you were here)

cats, cats and more frickin' cats...izmir is covered in cats...stray cats...there must be millions of these things...they are on every corner...under avery table it seems...no animal control :(

 yum...

 

thought these were pickled peppers...turned out to be zuccinni stuffed with cabbage covered with a pepper all bound together with parsley stem (i think byron said parsley)...

 after the market we made our way to the water to catch a bus...

 here are haakon, jocelyn and byron (allegra is at international space camp - nasa) until tomorrow...

 the haakster is quickly becoming the new man in my life...really enjoying time with him...just a great kid and funny funny funny....

okay i broke rule number one when traveling (no mcdonald's or other "home" food)...well the boy was really excited about going and just knew that i would love it...so mcdonanld's in turkey it was!

with tummy's full of mcnuggets, mcburgers and other mcfavorites we headed back to the apartment...this pic was taken in the neighborhood....

well we are off to an amazing start...it is so good to be with joce and byron...am really thankful...

kir

PS for ginny: loving you and missing you like crazy