Turkey 2013

 Dear Family and Friends,

 

A couple of months ago, we had purchased tickets to go to Turkey as a couple. When our plans didn't work out and we had to postpone our trip, we decided to bring the kids along with us despite some of the unknowns of going to a new continent and region.

 

We arrived at our destination in the city of Izmir in central western Turkey late at night. We then had to pick up a car and drive an hour to our hotel in the town of Selcuk near the ruins of Ephesus. Nevertheless, as soon as we pulled up to the small boutique hotel, we were greeted by the son of the hotel owner, who enthusiastically helped us carry our bags and get us settled for the night.

 

At 6:00am the next morning, we were awoken to the eerie chanting of the Muslim call to prayer being broadcast from a nearby mosque. This was our first real clue that we had ventured beyond the normal confines of Europe and had stepped into an entirely new culture. However, any apprehensions that we may have had as a result of this wake up call were dispelled at breakfast where we found friendly hotel staff, a delicious Turkish breakfast with foods that even the kids liked, and helpful fellow guests who were willing to help in any way possible.

 

Selcuk - Ancient baths (lower left) and Roman Corinthian capital on sidewalk (upper left)

After leaving the hotel, we walked up the street to the Isa Bey Mosque a few blocks away. This thirteen century mosque was obviously still used for daily prayers, but was surrounded by ruined walls and minarets.

 



Isa Bey Mosque



Due to the relative proximity of Selcuk to Ephesus, some tour buses come into town to see the mosque. Consequently, some small shops were set up around the mosque, including one at which we met a very nice imam (muslim priest), who volunteered to write our names in Turkish arabic calligraphy. 



Basilica of St. John

After visiting with the imam, we set off up the road to visit the ruins of the sixth centry Basilica of St. John. This church was constructed in 536 AD in honour of St. John, who travelled to Ephesus prior to his excile to Patmos. It is also believed that he came back here after Emperor Nerva later pardoned him. While the tomb of St. John is in a prominent place in the church ruins, there was never any body or relic found in it.

Byzantine Baptismal Font

One of the most interesting things that we found was a baptistery partially filled with rain water and very much looking much like it did over 1,500 years ago. At the time this was built by the Byzantines, baptism by immersion was practiced. The font is rectangular with several steps leading down to the water. There are also fire pits on either side to warm the water. When the Catholic church started practising infant baptism by the 9th century and sprinkling replaced immersion, such baptismal fonts were no longer used.

 

Mosque within the Walls of Ottoman Fortress (photo taken from ramparts)

While we were virtually the only tourists to explore the site at that time, we were followed at a distance by one of the staff. As we reached the end of the church ruins, he came over to us and asked us if we wanted to visit the nearby Ottoman Turkish fortress for a "fee" of 150 Turkish Lira (about 75 dollars). This was of course too much for us, but Joe pulled out about 15 TL in loose change, which he gladly accepted.

 

To get to the fortress, we had to go through two locked gates. Once inside, he took us to an old mosque in the middle of the complex and showed us the dilapidated stairs of an old minaret (prayer tower). Joe took a look, but declined our guide's invitation to climb the very narrow, winding stairs to the top. However, Julie was able to make it to the top and get a spectacular view of the surrounding country.

 

As we made our way back to the gate, the guide insisted that Joe climb a three-story, one-foot wide, thousand-year old staircase to the ramparts. As Joe could tell that our guide was very keen that we get our money's worth, he accepted the challenge. Nevertheless, Joe had some moments of regret once he got a few stories up and had to cling to the rocks of the wall just to keep from falling off the dangerous steps.

Cave of the Seven Sleepers

After our exciting tour of Selcuk, we drove towards the ruins of Ephesus. Along the way, we stopped at the cave of the Seven Sleepers, which includes the ruins of a church and an ancient cemetary. According to local legend, seven Christian youths came to the cave seeking refuge from persecution in the fourth century. When the king found their hiding place, he reportedly walled up the cave. Two centuries later, a shepherd re-opened the cave and awoke the seven sleeping youths, who were surprised to find that so much time had passed and that Christianity had become the accepted religion of the state.

 

House of Mary

Before going to Emphesus, we drove into the mountains to visit the house of Mary. According to legend, John brought the mother of Jesus here after leaving Jerusalem and she reportedly lived here until her death. Today, the first century dwelling is sacred Catholic site and is well guarded.

 

While the inside of the house has been converted into a Catholic church with all of the normal Catholic trappings, the overall site is peaceful and it's interesting to contemplate John and Mary coming to this site above the great city of Ephesus almost two thousand years ago.

 





Public Lavatories, streets, statue of Nike, and cats in Ephesus

After an already eventful day, we finally arrived at Ephesus and began a trek through the massive ruins. At the time of Christ, this city was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and home to more than 250 thousand people. In fact, we had to walk several kilometers to get from one side of the site to the other.

 

After stopping several times to allow the kids to get acquanted with the local cats, Julie found the ancient public lavatories. Though the marble seats looked comfortable, there wasn't much distance between them. To deal with the noise of so many people there at the same time, a stage was constructed in the middle on which a musician would play.

 

 

Library of Celsus and Harbor Road

One of the most magnificant ruins at Ephesus was the library of Celsus. This multiple-story building was constructed around 125AD and housed over 120 thousand scrolls. In front of the entrance, there were statues symbolizing wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, and valor.

 

Porch Houses, Teracotta pipes, Temple of Artimes

After taking a much needed muffin break at the site shop, we decided to pay an extra fee to visit the Terrace Houses, which included six residential houses over which a roof and walls has recently been constructed to protect the many frescos and mosaics. While we were skeptical at first, we were soon facinated by this cutaway view of ancient roman life as we walked on a glass boardwalk suspended over the site. Joe was particularly interested to see how they had used interconnecting terracotta pipes to provide indoor plumbing and to vent stoves. 

 

Of course, one of our main reasons for coming to Ephesus was to see the city that had once been a ward of the ancient Christian church and home to Paul and John. At the massive theater, we thought about the riot of the silversmiths who were afraid that Paul's teachings would ruin their trade in statues of artemis.

  

Food in Selcuk - Turkish Delight (Lokum), breakfast, Julie and Joe (left bottom) and Nicolas (left top) in caligraphy

After a busy day of visiting the sites, we drove into Selcuk to find dinner. Not knowing where to find the best restaurants, we settled for an outdoor cafe that sold donner kababs. Our waiters were the eleven-year old sons of the owner, but in the end we were very happy with our large sandwiches and the price. For desert, we found a local shop specializing in Turkish Delight and spent some time assembling a box containing some of each of the different varieties available, including honey and walnut, chocolate, pistachio, pomegranate, and several others.

 

That evening, we drove to the nearby city of Kusadasi on the coast and tried our hand at carpet buying. This process involved going into a large room and watching as the salesman unfurled rug after rug. After an hour of this, several of our favorites were set aside and the haggling over prices begun. While Joe thought he had prepared adequately for this ritual, in the end the saleman prevailed in the bargaining. Still, we ended up with a very unique, but heavy treasure to cart with us back to France. 

 

For our final day in Selcuk, we stopped off at what remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, before going to church in the costal city of Izmir. The branch consisted of one missionary couple, who was all too happy to have us visit since proselytizing had been banned recently and the families of the American basketball players and US servicemen had moved on. Fortunately, two single adults who were visiting the area also came to church, so it turned out to be a record-breaking attendance for the branch  (at least recently).





View from Hotel, Egyptian Obelisk

On Monday morning, we flew to Istanbul. Once we arrived in the city's old town, we got settled in our hotel and ate a quick breakfast from a terrace overlooking the Bosphorus Strait. 

 

The Blue Mosque

We then walked a couple of blocks to the Blue Mosque, one of the two largest mosques in the world. As it is still used for daily worship, we had to abide by the dresscode posted at the entrance. This included removing and carrying our shoes and women wearing a headscarf to cover their head.

Unlike many of the other types of churches that we have visited, Islam doesn't allow paintings of figures inside its mosques because muslims believe they detract from true worship. Instead, the mosque was covered in ornately decorated blue tiles for which the mosque gets its name.

 

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

We then walked to the Grand Bazaar to visit a few of its thousands of shops. There, we visited a few more rug shops and drank hot apple drink while they demonstrated carpets. We also found some unusual wooden boxes with mother of pearl inlay and turkish lamps.

Some of the most interesting aspects of visiting the bazaar were the salesmen. As we frequently got lost, we would sometimes pass the same merchant several times. One particular rug salesman found something funny to say to us each time we walked by, like claiming that he was "about to die from holding his breath so long" for our family to enter his shop. Despite a few overly agressive merchants, most of them were just trying to have fun with the customers and were basically good-natured.

Nevertheless, we did venture out of the bazaar to try and find the spice bazaar some blocks away. We soon found ourselves in the "real" Istanbul with thousands of people in the streets doing their daily shopping. Since it was already difficult to try and keep everyone together, we decided to get out of the crowd and retreat back to the relative calm of the bazaar.

A few of our finds in Istanbul

A friend of ours had warned us that the people in Turkey would love our blond kids.  In fact, Nathaniel had his hair rubbed by almost every merchant, waiter, hotel manager, and airline ticket agent that we encountered.   Our children's grandparents will not be surprised to hear that for our kids, the most thrilling "sights" in Turkey were the cats!  In the end, our overall impression of Turkey was that it is a modern secular country with interesting mix of middle eastern and European culture. Hopefully, the experience was as memorable for the kids as it was for us!

 

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nicolas

 

P.S. After arriving in Turkey, we realized that our camera was missing. Fortunately, Joe had reminded Nathaniel to pack his camera just before leaving. Unfortunately, it happened to be the cheapest of the kids' cameras and the one with a prominent fingerprint on the lens!



Ireland 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Each year in August, ITER shuts down for a week due to the closure of the adjacent French Nuclear site. This has always been a great opportunity for us to get away since Joe doesn't have to answer emails or worry about what is going on in his absence. This year's break coincided with Nicolas' return to France from scout camp in Utah, so it made sense for us to go north to Ireland where we had only spent a few days a couple of years ago.

 

We pick stopped in Normandy in route to the town of Cherbourg to catch an overnight ferry to Ireland. While in Port-en-bassin, our favorite sea-side fishing village, we found a rocky beach covered with clam shells, decaying seaweed, and rotting lobster shells. As we walked around, Nathaniel gladly proclaimed it "Paradise Beach". Fortunately for us parents, we were able to drive a little ways away and find a nice beach on which both parents and Nathaniel were able to agree.

 

 

Since we were new to Irish ferries, we foolishly booked our trip without a cabin or reserved seating. This meant that we had to get on board as quickly as possible and stake a claim in one of the lounges for a place to spend the night. As our neighbors started encroaching on our territory, we started to worry that we wouldn't be able to get any sleep. Joe decided to try once more to purchase some reserved seating even though it was sold out. Fortunately, the ship's purser had pity on us and gave us the last seats in the ship's cinema where we were able spread out in relative quiet.

 

The next morning, we began the drive to our holiday house in Ballinskelligs in the south-western tip of the country. Along the way, Joe got distracted and had to stop at Lismore Castle and at a trout stream. However, the favorite stop was at the grocery store where we found all kinds of food not found in markets in France!

 

Our house in Ballenskelligs was quite nice. Elyse lucked out and had the whole second story to herself, a fact that did not escape the boys attention. Fortunately, the flower comforters and pink wallpaper helped to avoid a civil war.

Prior to the trip, we were very worried that we had made a mistake in booking a place so removed from the usual tourist destinations like Kilarney. Once there, however, we realized that there were other benefits of being in a quiet village, like a huge beach almost all to ourselves.

Summer in Ireland is not too different from the winter - the weather is constantly changing and rain is always a possibility. The weathermen even forecasted the worst hurricane in years for the last few days of our trip. Still, we were able to find enough breaks in the clouds to explore the Skellig ring, a loop near our house with plenty of views and history. We took a short walk to visit tetrapod tracks in the sea rocks, checked out an ancient Irish stone marker, climbed the rocks surrounding a lighthouse, viewed the spectacular cliffs of Fogher, and drove to the top of Valencia island to see the surrounding landscape.

Each day, we tried to set aside time for the kids to play at one or more of the local beaches. The kids made forts, sandcastles, and explored the tidal pools.

On the third day, the weather improved enough for Julie and Elyse to go horseback riding at Rossbeigh beach. After putting on the mandatory safety gear, Elyse climbed onto "Misty" while Julie got to ride "Tom". On their ride, they crossed over sand dunes, galloped down the beach, and slogged back through the ocean. Even though they had a great time, they both had sore bums when it was over!

A couple of kilometers from home, we took advantage of a break in the clouds to do a short hike. Nicolas led the expedition down a narrow country rode and into the fields full of grazing sheep and cows. Like other hikes we have taken in Ireland, we eventually can to a point where we could no longer hop from grass tuft to grass tuft to avoid the mud and had to turn around. Next time, we'll bring waders so that we can finish a hike.

In Dingle Town, we enjoyed taking a boat into the bay to see "Fungie" the dolphin. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the tour was when the boat went out into open water momentarily. All of the recent storms had created huge swells, which tossed the small boat from side to side before we retreated back to the safety of the harbour.

 

In Killarney, we ate at our favorite local restaurant. We also got to watch Pixar's Brave in English, which was a real treat for the kids.

 

The rough seas we experienced in Dingle Town were a taste of what we were to experience on our ferry ride back to France. Although stabilizers kept the rolling motions to a minimum, the up and down made walking or any other activity difficult. Unfortunately, Nathaniel was a casualty of the voyage and spent the entire evening trying to sleep of seasickness.

Back in France, we stopped in the historic town of Vitre, were we took a short tour of the old castle and walked down the medieval streets of the Britton town.

We also stopped for the night in Amboise in the Loire Valley, where we were able to watch a midieval pagent of the history of the castle that included fireworks, dancing, and an equestrian demonstration.

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel

Fourth of July 2012

Dear Tout le Monde,

For the fourth of July, Nicolas and Joe were camping in Switzerland with LDS scouts from Germany and Turkey. To celebrate, the camp organizers gave everyone small American flags to carry around and sang America the Beautiful at morning flag cerimony. Other than that, it was Swiss cheese and hiking in the Alps. Meanwhile, Julie embarked on a massive toxic cleanup effort in the kids' bedrooms to try to get things organized for the coming school year.

Kandersteg, Switzerland (CH)

Cheese-making in the Swiss Alpes

Since we passed the Fourth passed without too much fanfare, we decided instead to celebrate Bastille Day on the 14th of July. Bastille Day celebrates the end of the monarchy and the beginning of democracy in France by remembering the storming of the prison in Paris. To the French, it is equivalent to the Fourth and is celebrated in much the same way.
On Friday evening, Nicolas, Nathaniel, and Elyse pitched a tent in the yard and got everything ready for the morning's breakfast. As is tradition, the kids came into the house every two or three minutes throughout the night to use the bathroom, report strange noises, etc. It also didn't help when our neigborhood cat paid them a visit or two by climbing on top of the tent and flexing its claws. Nicolas managed to scare it away after it put several small holes in the tent.

Blueberry Pancakes + Scrambled eggs in the same pan = green eggs :)



After a breakfast of pancakes and eggs, we all went swimming. Having tried to spot a Cigale (cicada) on many occassions, we were surprised when one fell off the tree and into the pool. This was the first time we had the opportunity to examine a cigale close-up despite being in Provence for over three years. These 3 inch noisy neighbors are responsible for making our area a war-zone during the summer as they chirp in response to the heat. Nevertheless, they are nearly impossible to see because of their amazing camoflage that makes them indistinguishable from the bark of the oak trees as well as their reclusive nature.

Where is the cigale (cicada)?

We spent the rest of Bastille day by going on a short hike, eating dinner in the town square, and watching the fireworks in a village not far from our house. As if all of that weren't enough, we happened upon a live music and dancing concert on the way to our car that we watched until we were prompted to leave by a bathroom emergency.

Fireworks (feux d'artifice) above the chateau in Greoux-les-Bains

Although our Bastille day didn't at all compare to spending time with family, we at least felt that we got our money's worth out of it, even if it was ten days later than normal.

The Onstotts
Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel

Greece III

Dear Family and Friends,

We just returned from another adventure in Greece! Despite all of the economic problems there, it's still an amazing place to visit. The food was excellent, the sea was clear and warm, and there was still much to learn about the history of civilization. This time, Joe's parents came along, which gave us the opportunity to play tour guide of our favorite sites.

From our last trip to Greece in December, we learned that having a home base to which to return each night is the most relaxing way to see Greece. Therefore, booked a guesthouse in Nafplion, a resort city on the Pelopponese. From there, we set out to explore some of the sites in the Pelopponese, include the Palamidi fortress, ancient Mycenea, and Epidavros.

We also took a flying dolphin, or hydrofoil, to the island of Hydra. Unlike other Greek islands, Hydra is almost completely devoid of cars or motorcycles. Instead, locals and tourists get around by walking or donkey, which can be found waiting at the port.

2012 Monaco Grand Prix Historique

Dear Family and Friends,

After two years of waiting, we were finally able to attend our second Monaco Grand Prix Historique. Despite some warm temperatures in the stands, it was an amazing day! The Historique allows former race car drivers and their cars to once again push their limits around the famous Monaco track. Cars range from the late twenties to the mid-seventies and are raced in Series from A to G.

Everyone loved picking their favorite car before each race. Unfortunately, one of Nathaniel's cars didn't finish the race, which caused him a great deal of concern. Joe also had difficulty coming to terms with watching a museum-quality Ferrari Dino crash into the barrier right in front of us.

For those anyone with an interest in cars, Monaco is like a supercar safari - you never know what you will see around the next corner. By now, the boys can spot the more common makes, like the Ferrari and Lotus. However, this trip they were able to correctly identify an obscure Mclaren. We're still trying to figure out a practical application for this skill.

Later in the evening, we walked up to the Old Town where we were able to get a bird's eye vantage point of the last race. It was interesting to watch the racers pass each other on the narrow streets, snake around the corners, and speed up and down hills.

Given all of the crashes that occurred during the day, it's probably good that the Historique is only held once every two years. Nevertheless, it's going to be hard to wait for the next race in two years. We may have to start attending the regular Grand Prix!

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel
Team Onstott