Istanbul

I'm just seeing some pictures I loaded into my blog ages ago but never wrote about.  So, let's pretend I know what I'm doing, and this is just me reminiscing.

The girls went to America for a month last summer and we were blessed to know some people who were visiting Istanbul, and they said the girls could fly back with them so they wouldn't be alone.

Doug flew with the girls to meet with the people for a few days that were visiting there and to see the girls off safely at the airport.

It was Karis first time in Istanbul (besides the airport), and she really loved the parks, the weather, and the beauty of the city.

Here they are in front of the Hagia Sophia.  It was a Greek Orthodox church, then a Catholic church before becoming a mosque and then a museum.

When I first saw it back in 2013, I noticed many crosses had been carved into or painted on the stone in the original architecture.  People have tried to chip away the crosses, but even their "chippings" are in the shape of a cross, so you can still identify what they were.  The paintings of crosses which I assume were originally red, were painted over with white paint, but over time the red has bled through.  Some of the mosaics of Jesus and/or Mary that someone tried to plaster over didn't adequately get the job done either.

It's a fascinating building to see if you ever make it to Turkey.

Here the girls are riding the ferry across the Bosphorus.  I'm not really sure about my geography, but I believe this body of water splits Istanbul into Europe on the left and Asia on the right.  Istanbul is probably the only city in the world that lies on two continents, but feel free to correct me on anything I may have said wrong.

This trip was a bit hectic in that my girls went home with one passport, nearly expired, and in a month's time had to return with a new one.  So many people helped them shop, visit grandparents, get to airports, and attend passport appointments.  But I also want to acknowledge all of you who prayed for them.  

We hit some snags.

The passports arrived two hours before they were supposed to leave for the aiport.  Their flights were delayed, and because of that, they had to spend the night in the Istanbul airport on their way back, waiting for another flight in the morning.  But all in all, the girls got closer and learned to rely on each other.

We were glad to get them back.