Visit to Turkey: The Chimaera and Olympos

 We wanted to take the kids to see the Chimaera. This strange little mountain side emits a natural gas. Even scientists have not yet fully uncovered what chemical make-up it is. When the gas comes out of the rocky mountain and hits the oxygen in the air, it ignites. Too bad we didn't bring marshmallows!

Turkey, in my opinion, is ruggedly beautiful. Like these two...rugged. beautiful.

 Most of the grandkids went up...the grandparents stayed down as the hike was strenuous. Sweet Cheeks decided to stay with them. While waiting, they had tea and oranges from a sweet little man who looks after the mountain and the tourists who visit it.

 After the Chimaera, we went to Olympos. Upon entering, we saw this little Turkish girl with two puppies in her little push car. She was quite the extrovert. She chose which kids should hold which puppy. I asked her how old she was. I got her name, age, all kinds of information. Then I asked if I could take her picture. She sprang into action and arranged all our kids as she wanted them. Something tells me she'll be running the entire place, and her mama's orange orchard, before too long.

 Dad and Mom really enjoyed seeing the ancient city, so many walls still intact.

 As you can see, you hike back along this rocky mountain wall...go through this little archway where Big Ben is standing....

...and come out to this. It's just beautiful. Narnian, I think.

My brother was a real trooper, in spite of some pain, I am sure.

 And if you look carefully at the top part of this picture, you can see the carefully crafted castle walls and even an arched door. This was built by the Genoans to guard against pirates.

Never mind the chill. The kids wished for swimsuits, but instead took off their shoes and got right into the Mediterranean Sea.

To complete our day, we walked back through this little town and visited the church. I'll post that tomorrow.