The view of Istabul from my Turkish Airline flight. I was starting a 10 day study tour of archaeological sites relevant to the New Testament and Greek and Roman culture of the first century CE. We visited 27 museums and archaeological sites and I can now tell the difference between Corinth and Doric columns and Greek and Roman theaters in Turkey.

Ephesus, one of the most famous cities associated with the disciple St. Paul. The name Ephesus is probably a Hellenized (Greek) form of Apasa, which is a name from the Hittites around the late 14th century BCE. The city is amazing because of it's size and the number and type of excavations that have occured over time. Ephesus is the most developed site in Turkey with 3.5 million visitors a year. The facade is from the library built in 110 CE by a son to honor his father and held a library of 12,000 scrolls. There are interesting details throughout the city including the common toilets complete with marble seats and running water underneath.

This is a 6th century fresco that is believed to be of St. Paul and St. Thecla (a female disciple of Paul) and is the earliest known depiction of Paul in Ephesus. It was a 15 minute walk through an apple orchard and grazing sheep up a steep hill to reach the cave.

This is a typical Turkish breakfast of feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and lots of bread. At the hotel there was also greens and bowls of dill, parsley and fennel. For foreigners they add hard boiled eggs and cereal. The yogurt is wonderful and one possible adddition is a paste from sesame seeds. I did not acquire a taste for the strong Turkish coffee with one inch of fine coffee grounds in the bottom of the cup. I was always happy for a regular cup of coffee or Nescafe.