Princesses, Snakes and Fish

I feel like it's officially time to swap out the real (uncomfortable) bra for a comfy sports bra and my stretchy pants and get to updating this blog.

I told you we were heading to the Mediterranean coastal town of Mersin a few weeks ago with Mike and Nilifer. What a great day! The first stop was at the ruins of an ancient agora. 

Agora: (in ancient Greece) a public open space used for assemblies and markets.

There is a fountain in the middle of the ruins with a pool that the water was held in. On the bottom of the pool are tile mosaics with different designs and wildlife depictions. 

The fountain pool that we can only assume held water. The black marks in the top center and top right are fish designs.

These ruins are on the side of a hill so if you walked up the hill about 30 yards you were in the ancient amphitheater!

Me just hanging out in an ancient amphitheater. No biggie.

If you look at the top of the picture someone has made themselves a home at the top of these ruins. Have  you ever seen such a thing?! Talk about a cool view.

Behind and the the left of the arch is where the fountain is and up the hill to the right of Mike and James is the amphitheater.

Me standing in front of the fountain. This was the only area of these ruins that was roped off. Check out those original colored tiles!

Not a great picture but we were amazed at the detailing in the stone. This used to be at the top of a pillar.

After this stop we parked and saw what we had come to Mersin to see. Kizkalesi or Maiden's Castle is a castle that is situated about half a mile off the coast, on its own tiny island. Nilifer was kind enough to give us the story behind Kizkalesi. 

 "There was a king who had a beautiful daughter here in Mersin. A fortune teller told the king that his young daughter would soon meet her death by snake bite. The king loved couldn't stand the thought of his beautiful princess dying so he came up with a plan to keep her safe and avoid death. He was going to build a castle in the middle of the sea where no snakes could ever get to her. While the princess was living in her castle, she told the king she missed fresh fruit and requested a delivery. When her basket arrived she reached her hand out to take a piece of fruit when a snake lurched, bit the princess and she died."

View of Maiden's Castle from the beach.

Inside the Maiden's Castle. The elevated walkways in the middle allow you to see the mosaic tiles without walking through them.

I know it's upside down but this was the only angle you could see because of the elevated walkways. Look at how detailed the tile work was.

The entrance to the castle and James looking like a stud muffin.

This is our very first picture with the Mediterranean Sea!

On our boat ride back to the beach.

You may be asking, where did the princess' father, the king live? To our pleasant surprise he lived just across the way.

View of the king's castle from his daughter's castle.

After we got back from Maiden's Castle, we met back up with Mike and Nilifer and strolled along the beach. We put our feet in the water and did some people watching. We got to the king's castle paid our menial fee of about 50c each and walked the outer walls of the castle. It was amazing to think something that old could still be standing.

We think this was used as the port or dock.

King's view of his daughter's castle.

Outer wall of the king's castle.

I have never been a very creative person but when I am surrounded by history like we were in these castles, my imagination goes cray cray (slang for crazy). I want to know what things looked like in their prime, how horrible did it smell, what did the people look like, what did they wear, how did they talk, how disgusting was the food, could I have survived being a peasant? (Lord knows my luck and I definitely would not have been born into royalty!) You feel as if you have been taken back in time, like you can see history happening before your eyes. Lately I have been obsessed with history and I think it has to do with living in Turkey and knowing how much historical significance this area has. Being able to see and touch it makes history lessons seem so much more interesting. Which brings me to another point; it is awesome that people are allowed to climb all over these historical sites but it comes at a cost. We may not see the cost now but in another 100 years, that generation and after will no longer be able to see, feel and touch these incredible pieces of history and culture. As much of a bummer it is that we have limited access to preserved sites and areas in the states, I truly do understand and appreciate why it is done. I want my great x5 grandchildren to be able to feel these things I feel. To feel like history is brought to life.

After the castles Mike and Nilifer took us to a local fish restaurant for lunch. James' least favorite food in the world is fish but he was such a good sport about it. We walked up to a restaurant with beautiful blooming flowers and a cool breeze. We stepped onto the dining patio that literally sat on top of the water. All of us went to the kitchen, picked out the fish we wanted and sat down to a beautiful waterside lunch.

View from our table.

Not good lighting but I wanted proof that James ate fish! You can tell by his fake smile he wasn't looking forward to it. It wasn't as bad as he thought.

My fish was deep fried and delicious. Turkish meals come with fresh veggies, fruit and salads.

To top the day off, we went to a little stand just around the corner from where we had lunch. I was super excited when I saw the place because I had seen a YouTube (which is now banned in Turkey) video of this exact dessert stand! These little heart attacks are Heaven in a bite. Deep fried dough balls with melted honey and topped with cinnamon. 

To Die For!

I have another trip to write about but this one took me longer than I expected. A League of Their Own was on and I can never say no to that movie. I think my dad and I have watched it about 10 times together! In the next couple of days I will make a new post and tell you all about our Turkish honeymoon!