On to Europe!

Turkey was great. Since Michael's last blog we got to see our first castle. It's on the Aegean Sea, and was built and used by the Knights of St. John. It now hosts an amazing museum full of milleniums old clay jars, glass, and other treasures that divers have found in shipwrecks off the coast.

After that we went inland to Pamukkale to see the Travertines--they're made from the high calcium content of natural warm underwater springs. From the village below it looks just like snow, and it's cold enough here now that it could be. But wandering around it you are awed by the glistening water and can feel the heat and see the steam rising from the countless terraced pools. It's stunning.

Naturally they've attreacted people to this area for a long time. The water supposedly has healing properties, and many people still come to bathe in it--especially in summer. The ruins of the Greek and Roman city of Heiropolis are here. The theater is still in great shape, and it has the biggest Necropolis we've seen.

After that we headed for Cappadocia. I don't think there is any place in the world you could compare it to. First of all, I don't think most people think of Turkey when they think about the early years of Christianity, but they should. Quite a few desciples came this way after Jesus's death, and there is even a church near Ephesus where the virgin Mary came with St. John and lived until she died. (Remember the Letters to the Ephesians?) Anyways. Cappadocia is pretty much where Monks got their start. St. Basil lived here. He and the other monks made monestaries into the soft volcanic rock here, so they could hide from the Romans before Constantine made Christianity legal. The local population also built their homes into the rock, and they made underground cities where they would retreat to for up to six months if they were under attack. The first Basilicas (St. Basil) were carved into the rocks here.They started calling these "Fairy Chimneys" during Abolition when locals secretly brewed Raki--anise brandy--in the mountains here.

We learned from a tour guide that a new prison was built in Cappadocia in the 1990s. After being open for one year, 38 prisoners escaped and 330 meters of underground tunnel were discovered.

The hotel room we stayed in was carved into one of these Fairy Chimneys. We had four nights by our roaring fire, two with our new Aussie friends, Gus and Mandy. We also enjoyed some beautiful hiking. Last night we took an overnight train out of Turkey. We're now in Sofia, Bulgaria and are thrilled to discover that after six months, we have finally found another country with good, cheap wine! I'm sure we'll post more details later.