The Speichers: Istanbul, Ephesus, and Fresh Squeezed Pomagranate

Lindsay and I joined a couple of friends of ours for a week long trip in Turkey. It had been in the works for a while. Dont worry, Elias spent the week chasing weimaraners around my parents house in Indiana; I don't think he even realized we were gone.

We started the week with a couple of days in Istanbul...Constantinople. Straddling two continents, Istanbul is a city of some 13+ million people and, from what I saw, almost as many "handmade rugs that you can't possible go home without". We hit all the typical sights in and around Sultanahmet: Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia, the Grand Bazarre, the Spice Market, Galtata Tower, etc. We stayed in a cool little hotel in the heart of the old city, Alp Hotel.

After two nights, we caught a 50 min flight down to Izmir and then a bus on to Selcuk. We spent the next day exploring the ruins of Ephesus and politely turning down our taxi driver carpet saleswoman. Exploring the ancient city of Ephesus gives new images to the words written in the book of Acts.

The next day we rented a manual Fiat Palio and cruised the countryside in search of ancient cities. We visited Priene, Miletus, and Didyma. Priene is know for its dramatic setting in the mountains, Miletus for its well-preserved arena, and Didyma for the massive temple of Apollo. All three sites were very interesting in different ways...it would be amazing to go back in time and witness places like this in their former glory.

For the last day, we went back to Istanbul and took a cruise (public ferry) up the Bosporus. Long story short: do not try to bus it back on the first very nice weekend of the year in late March...especially the day after National Exams. Ask and I will tell you the full story...but lets just say we walked for a long long time. Besides that, it was amazing day along the water, exploring small towns, old castles, and scoring the best ice cream in Turkey (surely!)