This morning we made the 5 1/2 hour drive from Ephesus to Istanbul where we returned our rental car outside the city and took a cab to our hotel. There, we connected with my sister, Alissa, who came to Turkey to support her nephew and enjoy a much-needed vacation. The opening ceremony for the Amputee Soccer World Cup was held at the Ülker Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium where professional matches are played. The entertainment featured a procession of the 24 flags representing all the countries that are competing, a drumming ensemble, dancers, and an apparently famous singer. While very nice, it did not come close to the opening ceremony at the last World Cup in Mexico which was more of a cultural celebration of the country and its history. After the ceremony, the host nation had its opening match against France which had little chance against the top rated team especially when supported by thousands of fans. Security at the venue was like nothing you can imagine. Hundreds of police officers, heavily armed, many in riot gear. Jeanine had her power bank, lipstick and hand sanitizer confiscated. Alissa had to surrender her cell phone charger. I was detained because my camera was too professional. After a long delay and checking with other officials, I was finally permitted to enter with my gear. The people we have met in Turkey are as friendly and welcoming as anywhere we have ever travelled. Today’s experience at the stadium, however, was a reminder that this is still a country where the police and military rule with an iron fist.

We arrived in Selcuk this morning after a relatively short 2 1/2 drive from Pamukkale and spent the afternoon visiting the amazing ruins of Ephesus. The ancient port has a history dating back to the 11th century BC and was once considered the most important trading center in the Mediterranean region and the most prominent city in then Greece. Throughout history, Ephesus survived multiple attacks and changed hands many times between conquerors and ultimately declined after the toll of so much conflict and natural disasters. It was also a hotbed of early Christian evangelism and remains an important archaeological site and Christian pilgrimage destination. The Library of Celsus was definitely a highlight, with the Great Theatre and Terrace Houses a close second. The massive site remains one of the most complete archeological excavations of an entire city in the world.

After a brief respite in our quaint hotel, we explored the Basilica of St. John and the Ayasuluk Fortress before enjoying a lovely dinner to celebrate my 64th birthday.

We arrived in Pamukkale after a long drive from Konya made more interesting due to a flat tire we experienced along the way. Despite my many significant accomplishments over the course of our marriage, I don’t think Jeanine has ever admired me more than by watching how efficiently and effortlessly I dealt with changing tires on our rental car. It was scarcely a ten-minute blip on our journey and another half hour to find and have the tire repaired at a local auto shop. Fortunately, we arrived at our destination with plenty of time to visit Pamukkale and the Hierapolis ruins. Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal waters. Although still remarkably beautiful, the site has been loved to death by the throngs of tourist who come to enjoy bathing in the pools. The series of pools pictured above were artificially created to replace a motorbike access road once built there. The terraced pools pictured below are natural and what I was most interested in photographing. Regrettably, the lack of recent rain left them dry. As a consolation, the golden hour evening light made the basins appear slightly blue in color which gives the impression of them being filled with water. As I was leaving the site to rendezvous with Jeanine who spent most of her time visiting the ruins, I saw a couple having their engagement photos shot. As is always the case in such situations, I studied what the photographer was doing to see if there was anything to learn. In this case, I concluded that he had no idea what he was doing and that all his shots taken into the setting sun without any fill flash on the couple would be terrible. I decided that such a lovely scene should not go to waste and took my own photo of the couple from a completely different angle.

This post is not completed and I will add more photos when time permits.

For now, enjoy this low-resolution version of a video I shot with my drone this morning. Imagine a smooth jazz soundtrack that I will add when I return home.

Reminders for Carl:

Yesterday: hot air ballon ride, underground city, Rose Valley Hike

Today: Love Valley Hike, Drive to Konya, Church

When we decided to vacation in Turkey, it immediately became apparent that we could not miss visiting the Cappadocia region which features geography and human endeavor like few other places on the planet. Pictured above is Uçhisar which means ‘Outer Citadel’ in Turkish and refers to the huge rock cone that is its central feature. Uçhisar is dominated by a 60-meter-high ‘castle’ which is crisscrossed by numerous underground passageways and rooms, which are now mostly blocked or impassable but which served as residential areas and, perhaps, cloisters in Byzantine times. It is believed that around 1,000 people once lived in the castle although it is no longer inhabited today. It was our last stop of the day and I used the drone for a nice golden light shot.

The village of Göreme, located within the Göreme National Park which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, will be our base of operations while in Cappadocia and is known for the countless eroded rock formations, many of which were hollowed out in the Middle Ages to create houses, churches, and underground cities. Our hotel room is located within such a man-made cave.

Our day began with a visit to the Göreme Open Air Museum. First thought to be a Byzantine monastic settlement that housed some 20 monks, then a pilgrimage site from the 17th century, this cluster of rock-cut churches, chapels, and monasteries was a wonderful introduction to the history of the region. The various churches have been given names by the locals such as the Dark Church, the Apple Church, and the Snake Church based on some of the paintings inside. We hired a nimble 85-year old guide who gave us a complete education on the significance of the site. Photography was not permitted in the churches but was allowed in the kitchens and dining rooms, an examples of the latter is shown below one of the typical carved rock formations. The center section of the u-shaped cutout is a dining table and the areas outside the u-shape are for seating. The fresco on the wall is one of the first depictions of the Last Supper and unlike Michelangelo’s version painted hundreds of years later, Jesus is seated at the head of rather than in the middle of the table.

Last night we began our journey to Turkey where Jeanine and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary (delayed two years by Covid). We had originally planned on Greece but made the change when we learned that Nico and team USA would be competing for the Amputee Soccer World Cup in Istanbul.

Our journey was not without challenges. Our Lufthansa flight from Boston to Frankfurt was delayed causing us to miss our connection to Brussels. Fortunately, the airline rebooked us on the next flight (Brussels Airline) which arrived just in time for our connection to Istanbul on Turkish Air which was also delayed. After clearing customs we hired a taxi to take us from the international airport to the regional airport located an hour away and flew on Pegasus Airlines from there to Kayseri where we rented a car and drove to our hotel. We left our home yesterday at 2:30pm and arrived in our hotel this evening just shy of midnight. We fell asleep minutes after our heads hit the pillow.

The only photograph I had time for today was a picture of the TV on our Turkish Air flight asking me to select a language for the entertainment system. I took it because I thought the pictured location would be a great addition to our itinerary if time permits.

Yesterday, Open Table shared this tribute to Jeanine with their entire community. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Yesterday, Nico asked me to photograph the Concord Carlisle High School Men’s JV Soccer Team which he is coaching again this season. The flash I normally use for such photos was not operating correctly so we had to time the photo for when the sun passed behind a cloud. This provides uniform lighting without causing the players to squint.

We have chosen to waterproof the outside wall of our foundation with a product called Tuff-n-Dri. It is applied with a spray gun and has a tar-like consistency. I spent three hours in the “pit” removing all of the concrete that spilled over the top and onto the footing. Doing so allowed the Tuff-n-Dri to create a continuous barrier over the top of the footing with no pockets for water to pool at the joint. While the family is in Turkey, drainage tiles will be installed around the outside and inside of the foundation walls. The inside of the foundation will be filled with 7 inches of gravel followed by 20 inches of Glavel which will be compacted to 16 inches. The garage footings and foundation walls should also be well underway.

I spent a good portion of the day working on the River House. Tomorrow, a waterproofing product called Tuff-n-Dri will be sprayed onto the outside of the foundation walls. While it is still wet, an insulating water drainage layer called Warm-n-Dri will be set into the tar-like coating. In preparation for this work, I needed to mark out the finish grade elevation around the entire perimeter of the house. This was easier said than done. I used a laser level on a tripod to project a finished grade line onto the foundation. I then climbed down a ladder into the excavated trenches and then up a ladder to mark the level on the wall. I did this for both ends of each of the eight walls and in cases with a diagonal profile, I snapped a chalk line and then created a stair-stepped pattern to simplify the installation process. All in all, I think I must have climbed up and down a 10 foot ladder a hundred times over the course of a few hours. Once the levels were all marked out, I had to drill a screw into the foundation at each location since the waterproof coating will cover all of the marks once applied. Another hundred trips up and down the ladder. Despite the strenuous exercise, I found the work very satisfying and had several frogs to keep me company.

My sister, Alissa, spotted this photo in the Schenectady Gazette newspaper this morning. It was taken 50 years ago in front of the George McGovern campaign headquarters. My father is second from the right and my mother is on the far left. In addition to their passion for ballroom dancing, they were avid folk dancers. I can remember joining them on many Friday night outings to dance with their local group. I still get goosebumps when I hear a slow Hasapiko.

We have decided to use swivel chairs in our new living room in lieu of a traditional sofa. This will allow family and guests to enjoy the views in all directions. While out with Jeanine this afternoon shopping for various new house items (flooring, plumbing fixtures, blinds, stonework) we stopped in to look at a few furniture stores. At one, we found what I consider to be the perfect swivel chair. Having sat in several dozen over the last few months, I can say with some certainty that this will be the chair we finally settle on (likely with a different covering).

Nico shared this photo of himself with his brother-from-a-different -mother, Jovan. The two have been training like mad men for the Amputee Soccer World Cup which begins in two weeks.

Inspired, perhaps, by Maya’s recent spice organization project or possibly my constant displeasure with the state of chaos in our Road House garage, I spent a part of the day organizing things. I long ago gave up on fancy purpose-designed garage organizers which invariably could not handle all of the items or which fell apart over time. Now I just affix a 2×4 to the wall (anchoring on studs) and screw in the appropriate hook for each tool. Much less expensive and infinitely more versatile and reconfigurable.

The concrete pour for the foundation walls was successfully completed last night. No other aspect of our new home project has made me more nervous. It is the only aspect of construction for which there is no way to correct a mistake. We needed five concrete mixer trucks to show up at 30-minute intervals. One breaks down or arrives late and we are screwed. If the pump truck gets clogged midway through the pour we are screwed. If the concrete vibrators malfunction we are screwed. If the ICFs blow out we are screwed. If the walls are not straight and plumb we are screwed. I think you get the idea. A lot of things can go wrong and once the concrete sets, you are stuck with it. I am happy to report that no such calamities occurred and the work appears to have gone perfectly to plan. See the video below.

Thirty-two huge bags of Glavel were delivered this morning. Glavel is a thermally insulating, load-bearing bulk aggregate made entirely from recycled glass. It has an R-value of 1.7 per compacted inch and compressive strength of 116psi. We will use 16 inches of it below the concrete floor in the basement.

Open Table held its annual meeting this evening al fresco at the El Huipil restaurant. It was also Jeanine’s last day as Executive Director of the organization. Three months ago she announced her decision to resign. After 9 years at the helm, she is ready for a new challenge, but not before a well-earned hiatus that will take her to Belgium after our two-week trip to Turkey starting next week. She received a standing ovation and was honored by several speakers for her leadership and passion. During her tenure, the organization transitioned from a volunteer-centered to a client-centered mission, secured its first permanent facilities, added a mobile pantry, introduced online ordering, raised $8M, and prepared tens of thousands of meals for clients in 21 communities. Maya and Nico were in attendance to share in the farewell and are seen below administering our traditional “graduation kiss”. Kyle would have been here as well if not for the fact that he is in Mexico this week.