Snake Castle

Yesterday was a fantastic day. Truly, it may go down as one of my favorite days since moving to Incirlik.

While we have done a lot of "big" travel since we moved here (Germany, Izmir, Istanbul [Ephesus], Cypress, Cappadocia, Mount Ericyes), we haven't done much local traveling. The reason has been two-fold. One is that we were so busy doing bigger trips. And the second was that the intense heat of the summer was followed by me being pregnant and dealing with sickness and surgery. But now that the weather is better and I am feeling as good as I have felt in many months, we thought we need to take advantage of the last few beautiful days/weeks/month before the heat returns and see some of our country in the local sense.

The issue is that it isn't very easy. You can't just google places online. There are castles and ruins everywhere but things aren't well marked. They aren't obvious. The only guide we all really have is a yellow book that in 1996 some wives on Base wrote and put together. They sell it at one of the shops in the Alley.

It was that book that lead us to Snake Castle. The history of this castle is not well-documented. What we do know is that it is only about 30 minutes from Incirlik and that it probably originated in 1200AD. But that is just a guess. The page I have linked to is some joe that wrote this article. No telling what is actually fact or fiction, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Joe is right that this was off-the-beaten path. There were shepherds all over and very few other people. Quite peaceful. Quite beautiful. Quite wonderful.

One of the best things about today's trip is that for the first time since becoming a parent, I felt like the boys were actually enjoying something we were enjoying. Let me explain. When we take them to Disney World or a Park or a carnival, they like that because it is designed for them. However, whenever we take them to something we want them to do, it is usually just them suffering through it with a ring pop and some of their cars. Today however, the boys were loving the climbing! We were all enjoying this family activity as a family.

Isaac kept saying: "I'm a good rock climber. I like to climb rocks. Can we climb another castle?" Elijah kept saying: "Fun. Big rocks. Two rocks. Climb. Snake Cass." They were having the greatest time. It was very steep in parts and verging on dangerous. While Veronica and JB went up higher, the boys and I were fairly limited on how far we could go due to the difficulty for the boys and my "delicate" state. But it was a wonderful day. Gorgeous weather. Gorgeous scenery. And happy boys.

Here are some beautiful snaps of our most beautiful day:

I told Veronica that she can take photos, but I have to get at least one of her on all locations to prove she was there with us!

Here is Isaac telling his Daddy that he wants to keep climbing. Isaac has very good "kinesthetic" skills. He did a fabulous job navigating the rocks. Elijah is more like a rock himself, but Isaac is quite nimble and dexterous.

Veronica said that there was a ladder leading down this whole but she decided against seeing what was in it.

We finished off the afternoon with lunch at "The Purple Restaurant." I am actually not sure of its real name. Most people just call it by that name. As usual, there is no menu. Just a waiter who brings you more food than you can imagine.

Potty training was quite an adventure today. We put the boys in diapers as we didn't know how they would handle the car ride. Isaac stayed dry and while Veronica and JB were climbing, told me he needed to go potty. Obviously the only choice was to go outside on the side of the mountain. The thing was, Isaac had never peed outside or standing up. And I had never helped a little boy pee outside. What to do ... I pulled down his pants, helped him steer, and told him to go. And go he did. I must admit, I had no idea a little boy could shoot pee quite so far. It was quite impressive. And Isaac was very proud of himself.

The boys also got quite a kick out of using the Turkish toilets in the restaurant. Most places have both Turkish and "western toilets." Not this restaurant. Surprisingly, both boys quickly adjusted to the idea of straddling the toilet and going. The only downside was that they were unable to figure out how to do anything more than #1 on these and decided to do #2 in their diapers. I don't blame them. I think I would make the same decision if I were being honest.

Veronica enjoyed the Turkish meal, and we took a ton of food home for leftovers before heading home and taking some great naps. Veronica is definitely struggling with jet lag. Good thing she has a year to make it through!