Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

On our field trip today we went to the place of our Savior's birth. I didn't realize how close Bethlehem was to Jerusalem before this semester, but they are only a few miles apart. We went to a few churches commemorating where Christ was born or where the shepherds might have been which were all neat. But the best part of the day was when we went to a secluded field overlooking Bethlehem , sang Christmas songs, and shared our testimonies of the Savior of the world. Being in Jerusalem and seeing the Holy Sites is incredible, but it's nice to know that I don't need to be at the exact place the Savior was to feel the Spirit.

Turkey day 7: the last day

Our first stop was Nicea where they had the counsel that decided the doctrine of the trinity. Though it wasn't raining yet, it was a really cold day. We had a lovely devotional on the sea shore but the wind picked up and we were miserably cold. Today was probably the second coldest day of the semester! After warming up on the bus we made it back to Istanbul. We were finally able to go to Hagia Sophia!!

Let me tell you why this church is amazing:
- built in the 5th century
- it had the largest dome on a church for over a thousand years
- it is still the 4th largest dome behind St. Peter's, St. Paul's, and Florence
- when the Ottomans came instead of destroying the church they converted it into a Mosque
- while converting it, they covered the mosaics so now we see both the old mosaics and the giant gold signs in Arabic. It is amazingly preserved and beautiful! There are still some renovations going and we saw a lot of scaffolding but it was still neat!

I remember sitting in Art History and learning about it and hoping I could see it, but not honestly thinking I would ever make it to Turkey. It was such a neat moment to be able to see it in person! We had a little but of free time to do some more shopping and though it was rainy, our spirits were high- probably because we had the most amazing Turkish Delight ever!

After dinner we took a red eye flight back to Tel Aviv and we came home as the first call to prayer was sounding. Turkey was great, but it always feels good to sleep in your own bed!

Thanks for a wonderful and beautiful week, Turkey!

Turkey day 6: a Rainy day

Today was our longest bus ride (about seven hours), so if it was going to rain, at least it was today. Our first stop was this ancient gymnasium and our second stop was a GIANT temple to Athena. It was so big! I am always amazed by the engineering that had to happen in order to build them!

Our hotel was in Bursa and before we went home, we stopped at their grand mosque. This mosque has 20 domes for the 20 battles won by some great military leader. This mosque was a lot simpler which really caught our attention and we really enjoyed it! After the mosque we went to their bazaar and had fun wandering around. Each city has its own flavor and while Bursa is the fourth (don't quote me on that) biggest city in Turkey, it has less of a touristy feel and more of a city filled with locals feel. It was a good place!

Turkey day 5: Pi Day!

Being the math nerds that we are, Michelle and I wore our matching pi day shirts and took pictures in front of everything round (because pi is essential in calculating the area or circumstances of any round object, of course. We also went to Ephesus today! I had no idea how big this site was, but we spent several hours looking around the ruins. It was so fun to see Greek and Roman ruins after studying them so much last summer!

We also took a quick jaunt to a small city called Prienne. Also out of the way and very peaceful. The big ruins are impressive, but I love the peacefulness of the smaller sites.

We were lucky enough to end our day with a pie (of sorts) at the hotel! Pi day+cool sites+great people+only two hours on the bus= a fantastic day!

Turkey day 4: Cities on a hill

Pictures are great, but they can only capture a small frame. I wish I could capture the feeling if the small town of Assos, literally a city on a hill. It's in a secluded place surrounded by lots of hills with our group making up the only visitors. Sitting on the grassy mountainside over looking the sun shining on the sea, learning about Paul's ministry, I felt very much at peace.

Afte lunch and a long bus ride we went to Pergamum, a city on such a high hill that we had to take a tram to get to the top! Pergamum is home to the third biggest library of the ancient world (behind Alexandria and Ephesus); fitting for the city that invented parchment. This place used to be right on the coast but over the years the plane below has silted in and the sea is a few miles away. One of my favorite parts was seeing all the wildflowers!

Turkey day 3: on the road

The rest if the trip was spent practically living on our bus driving to incredible sites all over Western Turkey. We started off by going to the WWII memorial Galipili. Here hundreds of thousands of Turks, Australians, and New Zealanders lost their lives in what resulted in a stale mate. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place- it was sad to think of so many young men losing their lives here. Definitely a special place. Then we drive a few hours to Troy-home to the famous Trojan horse. Unfortunately for us, the horse was covered with a big black tarp! Though kind of a bummer, there were still lots of cool ruins (which--I guess--we were really there to see). Our hotel was literally right on the beach and simply stunning. We walked to the end and watched the sun set over the Dardenelles. We couldn't get enough of the view so after dinner, a bunch of us crowded on the pier and looked at the stars. Away from all the city lights, we saw so many- even a few shooting stars! Such a great evening!

Turkey day 2

Our first full day in turkey was jam packed with fun! We walked through the city over to where the hippodrome was anciently marked by this obelisk. At tree thousand years old it looks brand new! We the. Went to the Blue mosque which was so neat! This mosque is in all the art history books (granted I've only read one) on the time period for good reason. Inside it is covered with beautiful tiles, mostly blue. There are lights (and tourists) everywhere! Loved it :) After lunch we went to Topkapi palace where the rulers of the Ottoman empire lived. It was lavishly beautiful and right on the Bosphorus straight. After that we had a long boat ride (90 minutes) riding between Asia and Europe while sun set. Though a little windy, it was beautiful!i love this city!