Cappadocia Getaway: Saving the Best for Last

On our last day, we enjoyed one  more family hike. We saw this interesting cave behind us, so one of the kids took my picture in front of it. Before I knew it, Miss Middler was scaling the slippery rock to get into it. It's impossible to see in this picture, but there was a deep valley behind me. I am on a hilltop in front of it. Getting into it seemed impossible.

 In she went, then started yelling, "You've GOT to come in here!!!"

 My little girl discovered what is probably my favorite church in all of the region. Perhaps because it was so hard to get into, it was preserved and not as marred as some of the others around. And it was far more elaborate. I think we walked into 5 different connected rooms. Countless others were impossible to enter. To get in the cave itself, we had people at checkpoints to grab little hands and haul them up. Maybe some adult hands had to be grabbed too.

And inside were these beautiful, nearly-perfectly preserved reliefs on the ceiling.

 

 We found the early church folks had carved a channel all the way from the top of the rock mountain side to drain water into the church.

 And fill this baptismal.

The paintings were beautiful. I can only image what they looked like when only a 100 years old. This scene depicted cheubim with six wings.

Anyone recognize this scene? Revelation 4.

We had to somehow get back down. Miss Middler ran all over the cave looking for a better way down. In the end, we decided the best spot was to leave the same way we came in. This was the way out.

 I loved it! I loved finding it on our own. I love that my child found it and showed me. I love that the history of my brothers and sisters from so long ago was preserved for me to see. It was my highlight.

Cappadocia Getaway: Snapshots

Cavemen. (If you are wondering why my daughter looks like a conservative Muslim, looks can be deceiving. It's because she is 12. And 12-year-olds tell their mother that they will not be cold in capri pants and only a jacket. They say they will not need a hat. And so their mother ends up giving them her scarf.)

 Stone bed. It even had a raised spot for a pillow. Wow. Comfy. (Are you noting here the laundry that will await me upon our return?)

 Wine press.

 Flood evidence.

 Trees growing out of rock.

 Spring.

 Beauty.

Cappadocia Getaway: Meeting Up with Old Friends

I hope you are not tiring of my vacation posts. It's just a place where you have to take a lot of pictures. And as a mom, I just want to post our day-by-day so my kids will one day read about our adventures.

We ran into some old friends, who live in Cappadocia. They invited us to a Renaissance fair put on by their home school co-op families. It was really fun, and the kids did a great job. It was neat to meet in a cave home and see their presentations and show our support for these brave families, living far out from a city.

 This cute girl is one of the presenters, also a friend of my girls'.

 I think a highlight for me was that as they presented a reading on the Renaissance, the Christians who were relevant during that time, were also mentioned. In honor of them, we sang this hymn by Martin Luther. It's one of my favorites and was played at my wedding when the groomsmen entered. It was beautiful to hear in this cave home, from the booming voices of many families who believe the words.

Cappadocia Getaway: Bike Ride

One afternoon CC did get away and ride a mountain bike. He found this....

Unfortunately, on the rugged terrain, his tire popped. The rented bikes do not have tire liners, like his bike at home does, but he'd been given a phone number to call in the event that he ran into problems. He didn't call, he just carried his bike the last 1km and returned it. Thankfully, he did not flip off his bike and come back looking like this.

I'm glad he got to go, what a beautiful place to ride.

Cappadocia Getaway: Exploring Rose Valley, Part III

I just had to get a picture of this place. We couldn't get very far inside, so I am not sure what it was. But it seemed like a little stone cottage. Even the roof was made of stone, but shaped into shingles.

 And there were some very weird people visiting there.

 On some of these hillsides, sometimes the only way to get down was just GO!

 Firstborn got a picture of me running down. She entitled it, "SuperMom." I could not stop laughing when I saw it. I suppose I'll get up the courage to post it here at some point.

 We stopped in one tiny little church, and CC read to us. He began reading a short little book by Mary Geegh, a woman who spent over 40 years in India. Her life lessons, especially in relation to listening to God, are so inspiring.We spent a little time individually listening to God.

 And after a long day of hiking, we went back to our cave for some wireless and satellite veg time! I could not believe it, but the cave's satellite was so powerful, it picked up all kinds of Christian tv. The kids got to watch Christian kids' shows in English. At one point, Big Ben said, "Mama! They're peaking Engwish!"

Cappadocia Getaway: Exploring Rose Valley, Part II

As we continued to hike, we found more and more interesting places. What you see in this picture would have been the inside of a home, perhaps. The outside wall has just eroded as the rock is very soft and easy to carve/wash away.

We spotted crosses all over. I took a picture of every one. Sometime I want to frame some of them for my home.

 This little church had a small room, perhaps for confession and prayer?

 CC found this church. Inside had an altar with frescoes around it. Many of the scenes were easy to distinguish. One we saw over and over was the painting of Jesus being dedicated at the temple, and Simeon being granted his promise by God that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

 This room in the church contained small inlets. What were they used for? I found myself longing to know more.

Cappadocia Getaway: Exploring Rose Valley, Part I

We've been to Cappadocia several times, but something changed this year. We realized all our little people are getting bigger, big enough to walk and traipse and explore. So, instead of hiking the easier hike we usually take, we set out on some new sights. We previously rode horseback through the Rose Valley, but decided to explore on foot and see what we could find.

 We found...church after church after church. For our family, this is the best part of Cappadocia....knowing believers were there before us, true to our faith, guarding it (as Paul commands Timothy to do) means so very much to us, in 2013.

 We had never seen this one before, but the inside was especially interesting.

 This is perhaps hard to envision, but just behind me, in the photo with the inlets where my kids are standing (above), is this drop off...just a big hole and a long way down. I wanted to take this picture, so CC held my belt loops for me!

 This was the entrance. We realized it was perhaps more than a cave home because of the more ornate entrance. Indeed, it was a small church.

I don't think I'll ever tire of exploring this place!