Free hotdog night. Will did damage and the cardinals won in extra innings.

Last day and the best cup of Turkish coffee.

Cave churches in Cappadocia where some of the oldest monastic communities lived. Also the homes of the Cappadocian fathers and mothers.

People think if the ancient world as white marble but most of the statues and buildings we see would have been brightly painted. On some of these walls and reliefs you can still see the original colors. The ancient Roman world would probably have been gaudy to our tastes.

More from Istanbul. Water cisterns, Constantine’s column, and the blue mosque.

Ancient Nicaea where the first church council was held in 325. We were there on the 1700s anniversary of Constantine’s arrival and the beginning of deliberations.

We were visiting the church at the residence of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and he found out we were a group of Protestant scholars going to Nicaea for the anniversary and invited us into his residence to greet us. He spoke and gave us all crosses. Not on your typical Istanbul itinerary.

Spent the day in Istanbul. On tomorrow to Nicaea.

A few more sites in Turkey. Today, I head to Istanbul.

I’m spending this week with a group of professors touring the sites of the seven churches of revelation in modern Turkey. I’ve learned a ton and been amazed by the scale and complexity of these Roman cities.