A Day at Ephesus

June 18, 2010
Today we went to Ephesus. First we visited the house of the Virgin Mary which has been turned into a small chapel. When we entered the foundation of the house of Mary we were given two candles to light and pray for someone who is dear to our heart. After, we went down to the Holy Springs. We were able to drink from one out of three fountains and could choose from Health, Wealth or Beauty. We continued on to a leather store where we were able to watch a fashion show of an assortment of their collection. Then we had time to shop around the store. Alma, Claire, Kelly, Carley, and Athena all bought an extremely cute wallet with pink, blue, and green polka dots on a white background. Subsequent to our shopping we stopped at a museum which prepared us for our visit to the ruins of Ephesus. At Ephesus we were able to see how their city was built and maintained. We also were able to see the beautiful statues and mosaics of this ancient city. Upon our arrival at the new hotel we were greeted by friendly (absolutely gorgeous) people. The dinner that we had was by far the best meal that any of us have had during the trip. We had an exciting dinner and a show as A.C. slipped and fell into the pool fully clothed! After this excitement we proceeded to relax and tomorrow we will embark on a cruise to the Grecian islands.
XOXO
Gossip Girls
a.k.a. Marie Bliss and Claire Wagner

Ephesus/The Virgin Mary's House

Happy Sweet 16th Birthday Carley!

The other side of Turkey

Happy Sweet Sixteen Carley! Early this morning we headed to the Acropolis. After a 45 minute drive through the Asian part of the beautiful country of Turkey, we ascended up the windy hill that led us to the beautiful and ancient ruins (A.K.A. it was really old). After Suleyman , our tour guide, taught us about the history of the ruins (A.K.A. old rocks), he sent us on the journey of photography. Carley and I decided that this was a beautiful backdrop for a personal photo shoot. Everyone scurried to the top of the disintegrating columns and struck an original pose. Ten minutes later we glanced over to find our chaperones (A.K.A. Staves and Rohrbach) copying our beautiful poses (A.K.A. they aren’t very original). After we departed for our next destination (A.K.A. the Onyx Quarry). At the Quarry we were shown how to shine a piece of onyx. We then entered the air conditioned store…finally…air conditioning…it’s really hot here. At this store, our stupendous chaperones decided to buy jewelry that they didn’t really need. Our next destination was a quaint little café on the side of the road. We experienced the delicacy that is Turkish pizza. We finally boarded our EF Tours bus to our marvelous beach-side hotel. We spent the remainder of our day by the pool tanning and playing pool games. Overall it was an interesting and educational day (A.K.A.: you didn’t waste your money on this trip).
Love,
Kelly Ross and Carley Platt (A.K.A. your beautiful bloggers)

The Acropolis

Trip to Troy

Today was a very long day! We woke up at 6:00 AM. Then we all got on the bus and waited anxiously to visit the ancient city of Troy. On the way we stopped for lunch and drove the bus onto the ferry. By the way if you ever have to go to the bathroom on a ferry in Turkey don’t the toilette is a hole in the floor. Once we got off the ferry we slept all the way to Troy. Once we got off we looked at all the old foundations and climbed into a replica of the Trojan Horse. We got back on the bus drenched in sweat and listened to the exciting history of olive oil!!! Finally we got to our hotel ate dinner and went to the beach. We all dove off the pier. We did not realize that the people screaming at us in various languages were warning us of the sea urchins inches from our feet. Almost all of us walked away without a scratch but a few of the less fortunate spent the rest of the night pulling urchins out of their feet. But all is well. Everyone survived the attacks. :)
-Athena Partch

Ferry ride and the Blue Mosque

Out in Istanbul

Istanbul

6/16/10
European Istanbul
To get here, we took a flight that stopped once in Paris after eleven hours, and continued to Istanbul with another five. Of course, AC lost her luggage somehow, but luckily it came back from Tuluiz tonight. The hotel is much nicer than we thought it would be for a school trip. We were treated to a chicken and rice with French fries (potatoes) dinner. We met the students from the other schools, who are very nice to us. After a confusing morning as far as time zones are concerned, we took a trip to the Blue Mosque, and learned a lot about Islamic beliefs. We were asked to take our shoes off (to keep the carpet clean. NO SYMBOLISM) and cover our legs and shoulders. We can hear the call of worship from the minaret multiple times daily. Later, we visited the Hagia Sofia museum, where we met some interesting characters, and learned how to convert a church to a mosque. The building is 1500 years old. Next we were introduced to an obelisk from Egypt, as well as another that was raided by the crusades for bronze. From here, we traveled to the bazaar and were “graciously complemented” by the local sellers. Ms. Staves and Ms. Rohrbach want me to mention the Turkish delight… whatever that is… For lunch we had delicious, ethnic McDonald’s. Claire was really surprised to find that chicken nuggets are a sandwich here. Our group next ventured on a very grueling walking tour to the spice market. Finally, the moment we all had been waiting for. We could return to the hotel! And rest our feet! After an enlightening day spent in European Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, or even earlier Byzantium, our tour group finds ourselves trekking to Asiatic Istanbul tomorrow, with promises of a glorious hotel with wonderful beach and pool access. To our delight, Turkey has surpassed our expectations, and we find ourselves really learning and remembering the information we have experienced hands-on. The rest of the trip holds bright promise to us excited Americans.
Miss Brittney Cannon & Miss Yvette Nowry