We're back

Sorry about no updates from Germany. We couldn't find any internet. We were mainly going to the convention anyway. Now we're in New York waiting for our flight to San Francisco. Maybe we'll do a last post summarizing what happened in Germany.

Ephesus

Yesterday we flew down to Ephesus for the day to look at ruins. Ephesus used to be the capital of the Roman empire, so it was pretty big. There were a lot of cool ruins like the library and the Great Theatre. And it used to be right next to the water before silt filled up the bay. Here's some pictures.

This was the small stadium

The Library
And the Great Theatre
Going to the bathroom was a social event. As the British lady next to me said "they must have sat bum to bum"Today we fly to Germany for the convention.

Underground Cistern

Today we went and saw the Archeological Museum and a huge underground cistern. They used to fill the Cisterns to the ceiling with water reserves just in case there was a battle and the enemy poisoned their water supply. There is supposed to be like 12, but they have only found a few of them.


After that we went on a short cruise around the Bosphorus. At the last minute we found out that some brothers and sisters from the Istanbul branch were going to go with us. That was fun, and we spent most of the cruise talking to them. There are only 44 brothers and sisters at the branch, and 17 of them work in the translation department. And there are 2400 witnesses in Turkey. And there are 71,000,000 people. So they have a lot of work to do. 99% of the country is Muslim.


Then when we got back, some of the brothers and sisters from a local congregation came by the hotel to say hi. Some of them are there to help out in the Russian language congregation.

Istanbul

Yesterday was our first full day in Istanbul. We started by seeing the Topkapi Palace. That was pretty cool. Then we went and walked around the area where the Hippodrome used to be. It's all covered now.

Then we went to the Spice Market which was also really cool. We bought a bunch of Turkish Delights.


After lunch, we went to the Grand Bazaar, which has more than 3000 shops! And that's not a typo, there are like 3400 shops or something. We only had an hour in a half though so we only saw a fraction of that. But our tour guide says that they all have the similar products so we only need to see a row or two of shops to see all the stuff. I didn't buy anthing, but Vanessa and my mom bought some scarves and pashminas.


After that we went to eat in the downtown square. My mom and dad tried Turkish Coffee.

Last Day in Greece

Tomorrow we leave for Istanbul, so we tried to enjoy Greece as much as possible. We toured the ancient cities of Corinth and Mycenae. It was interesting to walk the same roads that the Apostle Paul walked so many years ago.



Outside was mostly ruins, but they had a museum with some ancient statues, like this one of Augustus Caesar.


We hiked up a mountain in Mycenae and there was an amazing view.


Right now we're enjoying some delicious drinks at a cafe with free wifi. We leave for Istanbul at 5:30 tomorrow morning and hopefully we'll be able to find some reasonably priced Internet when we get there.

Greek Island Cruise

Yesterday we embarked upon a one day cruise. It went from 8:00 in the morning until 6:30 at night. We visited three different islands: Hydra, Poros, Aegina. We saw some really amazing beaches, but none of us thought to bring our bathing suits, so we only got in up to our knees.

On the way back, they provided entertainment in the form of traditional Greek dancing with live music. They were dressed up in interesting costumes and we almost got pulled into a group dance. We made it home okay, but were too tired to come to the internet cafe and write a post.