Part 4 - The Grand Finale

The last part of our journey was a special treat for our 3rd anniversary. We arrived in Istanbul around 6 in the morning, grabbed our rented car and were off. It was about an 8 hour drive to the town where we were headed and Joey kept a close watch on the map not letting me see where we were headed. Not that it would have really mattered - my geography, especially of Turkey, is not what it should be. Finally as night came we were at our hotel, in the city of Kusadasi. It was a big fancy hotel with an all inclusive deal that Joey had found online to fit our budget. While the Hotel was slightly cheesy it was so much fun to just relax, enjoy the yummy buffets, and the swimming pool. We spent 3 nights relaxing and living it up.

Joey and Josiah enjoying the pool. Josiah loved swimming!

Every hotel we stay at we set up a bed for Josiah in the bath tub. It works just like his pack and play and is really cozy. One morning on this trip we woke up to the sound of water running, he finally figured out how to turn it on! Luckily it was warm and his blankets dried quickly.

We were near the ancient city of Ephesus so we took a day and headed out to see the sights. It was incredible to walk the streets that long ago Paul had walked. Things have been incredibly well perserved and you really can get an idea of the vastness of the town. At one point this town had over 200,000 people in it! Amazing. The two most incredible things that we saw were the Library and the Grand Theater. The Library still has the front facing on it. You can see the statues placed there and much of the engravings. The Grand Theater can seat 25,000 people and is still used today from time to time.

The front of the Library. It wasn't a very large space so the guy who had it built made the front look as impressive as possible. He did pretty good don't you think?!

This is the Grand Theater. They are still doing some excavation work which is why the crane is there. If you read in Acts when Paul was in Ephesus it talks about this theater and how the people gathered there to protest the Christians. Amazing!!!

After our time in Kusadasi came to a close and we drove back to Istanbul. It was so much fun to drive and see the country. Turkey really is a beautiful place. We were then off again to finally make the journey home. Our last layover was 14 hours overnight in Zürich, Switzerland. Zürich was an extra special treat. It reminded us so much of home - the air was cool and crisp and the trees were actually turning shades of red and orange. It even rained while we were there, the cool misty rain of Seattle. It was wonderful. We also go to eat at a Bar and Grill specializing in Mexican food. Let me tell you there is NOTHING like a yummy chicken burrito and nachos!

Here we are in Switzerland, adding one more stamp to our passports!

Zürich is beautiful, and quite the contrast from all the Muslim countries we visited. It was shocking, in a nice way, to see church steeples instead of minarets from a mosque.

Finally we headed home. It was so nice to be back among the familiar things. We stayed one night in the city and then were on our way to head home when the car broke down. It was such bummer to be in the home stretch and have to turn around. We ended up staying for an extra week in the city doing some more relaxing and catching up on emails. I guess the Lord knew that we weren't completely ready to get back to the daily grind. All in all it was an incredible trip full of adventure, fun and loads of relaxing. We are so blessed we had the opportunity to get away and see such incredible places!