A Quick Trip to Tarsus

Ben took leave (sort of) while Mom and Dad were here in October-November. (He still had to go into the kennels quite a bit due to circumstances beyond our control.) We weren't able to do as much traveling as we (especially Mom and I) wanted, but we did get a couple of short trips in. One of those was a quick trip to Tarsus. We dropped the kids off at school in the morning, and the four of us drove up to do a little exploring.

Our first stop of St. Paul's Church. There was a group having a service while we were there, so we tried to take some pictures without disturbing them too much. There are beautiful murals on the ceilings (obviously redone but beautiful none the less).

Outside the courtyard with two of my favorite people.

After we left the church, we tried to walk to St. Paul's Well and what is believed to be the ruins of his home.  We saw some of the city and a nice little bazaar (and I found a pashmina I wish I had bought), but we never did find the well. I should have come at it from the direction I had come from the one time I've visited instead of following the tourist sign.

A short photo op at Cleopatra's Gate.

We got back in the car and drove to Cleopatra's Gate and the ruins of the old Roman road.  Just outside of the fence at the road we bought some baklava from a street vendor. It was sticky and sweet and so much cheaper than at restaurants. From there, I probably could have found St. Paul's well. Unfortunately, we were short on time...we had to get back to base to pick Keri up from school.




Our last stop on the way home was the waterfall.  I had told Mom and Dad all about how great it was and then we get there....and they're dry! Apparently Fall is not the best time to visit.



This old man climbed all the way down the dry falls.

We got Keri from school and walked out to Moonlight to eat a late lunch before picking up the older kids.  In the nearly three weeks that they were here I think we ate at Moonlight four or five times.  Mom and Dad really enjoyed it and the owner loved seeing us all come in.  The first time, he actually brought us some "Turkish pizza" (I can't remember how to spell the actual name) because I'd brought "Mama".