As our time in Turkey ended we took a day to visit a castle and spend the day as a team. We were back in Istanbul and decided to visit an old castle that was about two hours away by boat. It was used to protect the channel so that no enemy boats could go up the channel and attack the city. We rented a boat and driver and headed out on a beautiful morning. 

This is the boat we took; most of the team is already sitting in the top section.

   It was a nice ride and we got a good look at the city. It turned out to be a very nice day and we enjoyed being out on the water. It was fun to be out as a whole team.

     You can see the Mediterranean Sea and how it starts to form the channel and how the castle is positions to protect it.

                                                       A view of the castle as we floated by.

                Here we left the boat and had to walk around to the entrance of the castle.

      We had two hours to look around. We split into several different groups depending on how fast we could climb all the stairs. There were many, many stairs running along all the walls.

                    We are pausing to look down into a large hole that seems to go on for ever.

    This is a graveyard that was right beside the castle there was no information so I don't know who was buried here, but I suppose it was soldiers.

                                           A view of the castle from the top.

     It was a beautiful castle, or fortress would probably be a better name for it. We felt a little bad for the soldiers who would of had to spend their days standing watch and living in this cold stone structure.

   After our two hours of exploring and enjoying this beautiful castle we gathered back at the boat to head back to the city for dinner. We sang worship songs and prayed for the city as we floated back.

   We picked a nice restaurant be the bay for dinner and ate together as a team for the last time. In just a couple of days part of the team would be heading to Greece and then we would all be heading home.