Day Trip to the Mediterranean

Hey Folks,

This weekend we were finally adventurous enough to do a bit of traveling.  Before the weekend, our traveling consisted of getting our bearings in our new city.  Together with a couple we've met here who are actually from Minnesota, we took the train to the neighboring city of Mersin - a Mediterranean port.

We ate a delicious dish called Tantuni and checked out an old Catholic church, the opera house, and a museum.  Then Luke and Emily - our new friends - headed off to meet up with some friends and Hilary and I were on our own.  We went back to the opera house to take a few quick pictures and one of the workers there let us go into the concert hall to listen to the orchestra and choir practice for their upcoming performance of Carmen.

Afterward we walked north along the coast.  When we returned to our starting point there was a small line of fishing boats-turned-restaurants along the waterfront.  We boarded one and tried their fish sandwich, fries, and coke.  The Turkish music, fishing boats scattering the harbor, and full moon made for quite an experience.  My first taste of the Mediterranean was certainly worth remembering.

Here are the pictures:
Day Trip to the Mediterranean

- Hil and Mike

The Views Outside our Apartment

The Views Inside our Apartment

Front Hallway

Bathroom

 Kitchen/Laundry Room/Living Room

With Hilary

Without Hilary

Bedroom

Saturday in the Park (Not Chicago)

Friday after work Laura (our friend from Mora, MN) and her husband Can (pronounced 'John') took us to the Optimum Outlet mall to setup a cellphone.  On the way, Can took me through "Old Adana" which was a dodgier part of the city where we entered a mall filled with like fifty cell phone stores, rubbed elbows with the antique dealers, and walked through a meat market which consisted   of freshly butchered animal parts (its smell is still fresh in my mind, though its smell was anything but fresh).  

Saturday morning Hilary and I walked to the park nearby our apartment.  It is called Merkez Park.  Despite the repressive heat and humidity, we managed to explore and take pictures for about an hour.  Left of the mosque is a river (not pictured) with a bridge that lights up at night which we hope to frequent this year.  

So far we've not been adventurous enough to enter the mosque, but we will soon.  Laura said if we're lucky a worker at the mosque may let us go up into one of the minarets to look around.

The rest of the weekend we laid pretty low, settling into our new apartment, preparing for our first week of classes, and visiting a bazaar/farmer's market/pazar where we bought apples, plums, and persimmons - which is Hilary's new favorite fruit. 

Transition is slow, exciting, exhausting, fun, difficult, and progressing.  We hope our friends and family around the world are doing well and really appreciate the email, skype and ESP communication we've gotten so far.  It's nice to know we're not forgotten yet.

A few photos from our new Surroundings

A cup of coffee at our new apartment

The view from Laura and Can's Apartment

Me in Frankfurt, Germany's Airport with Walter. 

Welcome to Turkey

Hey Folks,

Welcome to Turkey via our blog.  We have finally created a mass (or micro) communication forum in response to the intense demands of our family, friends, and acquaintances.

On September 4th, 2012 at 3:30pm CST I had never been east of North America or north of Minnesota.  28 hours later I had been to 3 new countries (Canada, Germany, and Turkey) on 2 new continents (Europe and Asia).  Life changed from known, comfortable, stable and familiar to the complete opposite side of the spectrum.

Why?

More on that later, I suppose.

We love you and miss you, yet we're excited to discover what lies before us.

Mike and Hilary