Mom and Dad in Tarsus

The week before spring break, I was super lucky to be able to play hostess to my parents for a week long visit in Tarsus.  It was awesome having them stay with me for the week, and I was surprised by how well they entertained themselves around town while I was at school.  On their first day in Tarsus, I took them on a little historical tour of the city.  Seems like I lost my photos of that day, but I know they both have plenty that I can get from them later :)  Instead of having to work on Monday, we got a surprise day off due to municipal elections.  I rented a car in town and we drove out to Kizkalesi to check out some of the historical sites.  Thanks dad for doing an awesome job driving a manual shift around Turkey on your second day in the country!  

Our first spot was a small area known as Elaiussa Sebaste, an ancient harbor city.  It is a small spot that you can drive up to with only one parking spot, no entrance fees, and the present-day homes built right along side the ancient site.  

Mosaics on the floor of the Byzantine bascilica

A pretty theater with a view

Across from the street lie what remains of a Byzantine palace from the 5th century A.D.

Elaiusse Sebaste palace

The next stop was Corycus Castle, which faces Kizkalesi, the Maiden's castle.  This is the largest site in the area.  Situated right on the sea, it was a beautiful spot to hike around and get some cool photos with the sea in the background.

Outside castle walls and Kizkalesi 

Definitely the coolest part of the castle, the Roman sea gate formed the beginning of a street
from the port to the temple.

Roman sea gate

The Turkish guys at Corycus castle didn't have any information in English to give us, but did have French brochures.  As dad was flipping through the brochure, he came across a photo of some rock carvings that looked pretty cool.  The guys told us that it was close by (from what I could gauge from their Turkish and hand gestures).  So we decided to take a quick detour before lunch and check out Adamkaylar, the man rocks.  We drove about 6 km before we saw the sign for the site, then followed a gravel road another kilometer before we got to the site.  All we saw was the brown sign with a little description and a beekeeper (seriously!).  We weren't sure if we were supposed to walk right or left.  The beekeeper came over and motioned for us to go down the gorge.

The gorge we are supposed to walk down....!

So we start going down and find red arrows spray painted on rocks pointing in the direction to walk/try not to slip down into the gorge.  After a few minutes, the heights got to mom and she headed back up.  So it was just dad and I following a very poorly marked path down a gorge.  There was a time frame where we weren't sure we were going to find anything.  But this was no Dimberg's folly, we eventually found the "man rocks."  The Roman figurines were carved into the rock as a tribute to lost loved ones.  These are considered to be extremely rare in this part of the world, and are excellently preserved (probably because they are in a GORGE).  There are 13 figurines in all.  We were literally right under the carvings and therefore had awesome views.  It felt like something from National Geographic, having to climb down a gorge to find this awesome treasure of ancient Roman art, just hanging out in neature.  Oh, and some of these carvings are over 2,000 years old....crazy!

Man reclining on a couch

Soldiers holdings weapons

Thanks beekeeper for pointing us in the right direction!

After that epic hike, we were all starving and ready to eat some delicious fish.  My teaching partner had recommended a fish restaurant in Narlikuyu, a little cove just past Kizkalesi.  We were treated to some very tasty salads, grouper, snapper, shrimp, and fruit.

Picturesque Narlikuyu

Across the highway from Narlikuyu are the Heaven and Hell caves.  These caves have been considered somewhat mystical places for centuries, by pagans and Christians alike.  It has been used for religious purposes since 1,000 B.C. (estimated, according to my info at least!).  First we hiked down into the "heaven" cave.  At the entrance of the cave is a Byzantine church, built to represent Christianty's conquering of the pagans.

Heaven church

Another view of the heaven church

From the cave flows a river that was believed to be one of the entrances to the underworld, therefore called the "hell" cave.

Our last stop on our way back to Tarsus was Kanlidivane, once a pagan worship site for Zeus and later for Christianity.

Remains of one of the Byzantine churches

Chasm at Kanlidivane, believed to be a sacred place for the cult of Zeus.

We all got a little sun, but it was a great day exploring the area with mom and dad.  For the rest of the week, they shopped and explored Tarsus and made new friends, Gulcan, Alper, and their cute little girl Defne.

Dads and Defne (dad even let her play with his iphone!)

Moms and Defne.  We just love that little face!

On Friday, I had them come into my English classes so the 4th graders could ask them some questions.  This proved to be pretty entertaining, as the questions ranged all across the spectrum of possible topics.  It was fun to be able to introduce the students I have taught for the past two years to my parents.  They did a good job of asking questions and listening.  They particularly loved when dad showed a video of himself snowblowing the back porch, since they have never seen that much snow.  Too bad I missed taking a photo of dad with all the sporty boys sprawled out on the desk trying to watch the video on his iphone, but I did get a few cute ones!

Sharon and Al captivating the crowd :)