tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29070092666014647742024-03-05T15:16:38.812-08:00Seven Hills: an outsider's view of IstanbulAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-68114078416093075572008-07-06T14:16:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:42:49.400-08:00Day 13 & 14: Ankara and the Midnight Train to Istanbul<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMK-uPfrcwkR5cgt2sD8SwW428ukoPYfovz9iSTobVfW3XGAjD9jaUitqJPJpG6thvimYg-9ZQH_udxQJNFkzFSO-h8lwvJ8toZIxWyxF0ugMK9kONMmxRKQlXZj4N2-8GRdpzbm_0piQ/s1600-h/roadtrip+ankara+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMK-uPfrcwkR5cgt2sD8SwW428ukoPYfovz9iSTobVfW3XGAjD9jaUitqJPJpG6thvimYg-9ZQH_udxQJNFkzFSO-h8lwvJ8toZIxWyxF0ugMK9kONMmxRKQlXZj4N2-8GRdpzbm_0piQ/s400/roadtrip+ankara+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220046686863372002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After gathering at our last meeting point in Cappadocia, we got on the ever-crowded Fez bus. We managed to stuff all our bags and ourselves onto it and set off for Ankara. The ride was eventful in and of itself - every so often the bus driver, Mustafa, would swerve across the three lanes of highway we were on. At one point, he was tailgating some poor guy on a moped - the bus was literally 2 meters away from him. I was asleep when the main commotion started, but soon the sounds of yelling and screaming came to the back of the bus. By this time - 12:45 am, we were 45 minutes past the time we were supposed to arrive at Ankara, and everyone was starting to wonder what was going on. The story eventually made it back to us that the bus driver had missed the first Ankara exit. When Prof Shields and the Fez tour guide saw this, they told him to take the next exit. He refused and purposefully missed all the exits for the city. He then started screaming in Turkish to the poor tour guide, saying that he had not been told to get off at Ankara and that he was going to refuse. The twelve of us were frantic because we had to stop, but Mustafa seemed to be on a mission to get back to Istanbul, 7 hours away. After ten minutes of yelling, the bus driver finally got off and turned around. All the Americans and Kiwis and Australians were still tense from the experience so all of us were still watching the road when Mustafa turned right at a sign that stated Ankara was to the left. In the middle of getting off on this wrong exit ramp, Mustafa realized what he did and stopped the bus, then put it in reverse as cars honked and zoomed past us. Then we got into Ankara and he stopped on the shoulder of the highway to ask for directions - at that point, Prof Shields had had enough and told us to unload. It was quite a scene, all twelve Americans with all their baggage on the shoulder of the highway at 1 in the morning. Thanks to Yekta, we managed to get off the bus alive and got three taxis to take us to Bilkent University on the outskirts of the city. We thought it was all funny, another Turkish mystery, but we're lucky it ended well.<br /><br />In any case, we got to the dorms at 1:30 and were divided into rooms - the guys stayed at one dorm and the girls in another. Bilkent University is a private university that uses English as its primary language - from what we understood, it had 15,000 students. The campus itself wasn't very centralized, though, so we didn't really get the sense that we were at a university in the American sense of the word. The dorms were nice but the rooms tiny - it's a wonder how all the Turkish students put up with it for 4 years.<br /><br />Now that you've been briefed on the journey to Ankara, a little information about the city itself. Ankara is located on the crossroads of ancient north-south and east-west trade routes. For thousands of years it was an important trade post. Its importance decreased significantly and by the 20th century it was a town of 30,000 people. During the war of independence, Ataturk decided to make Ankara the headquarters of the movement. When the Turkish Republic was established in 1923, Ataturk decided to shy away from making Istanbul - the obvious choice - the capital of the new country because the old Ottoman monuments, palaces and mosques would be too much of a reminder of the Ottoman and Islamic days and hinder the success of the new republic. Ataturk instead selected the sleepy town of Ankara as the capital and immediately set upon building the new capital.<br /><br />Now, Ankara is a bustling city of more than 4 million people and the political, if not cultural, capital of Turkey. The section of the city as it was during Ataturk's time - Old Ankara - is far superseded by New Ankara, a city that was purposefully built as a secular counterpart to Istanbul. The result was wide boulevards, parks, organized city centers and a generally bland city that lacks the character Istanbul has.<br /><br />The first day we decided to take day trip to Gordion, a two hour bus ride from Ankara. Gordion was the capital of the Phrygian kingdom, which flourished several thousand years ago. Ken Sands, a UNC professor, happened to actually excavate at the site and led us around:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wC2Z3YLVjbZ27LLuODnQr8a22PTRjBPo9TsiqjKsoGgPCRRgAGLqgNcM5VF22F8KHpWxmowXJ51wHUiTsOy_tjLVBT7WQkpCzSE3QGnj0r08wZSG1BWr1qbi0-sx27G29LfjA82p22A/s1600-h/DSC_0004-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wC2Z3YLVjbZ27LLuODnQr8a22PTRjBPo9TsiqjKsoGgPCRRgAGLqgNcM5VF22F8KHpWxmowXJ51wHUiTsOy_tjLVBT7WQkpCzSE3QGnj0r08wZSG1BWr1qbi0-sx27G29LfjA82p22A/s400/DSC_0004-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220031071148427570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgceo5ONfa6a0BF1YHTVITfYY7SsLLZZrbzv1a4HzqEbxV4a9kOEiEClZKg5HpFVdje7I5X7341IIHiLHmXPXEioq8aVV_KkKzlZHiuoc16zoGKw8gQbrqy48ORzlni7VTffKdOoG2ZJoU/s1600-h/DSC_0009-10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgceo5ONfa6a0BF1YHTVITfYY7SsLLZZrbzv1a4HzqEbxV4a9kOEiEClZKg5HpFVdje7I5X7341IIHiLHmXPXEioq8aVV_KkKzlZHiuoc16zoGKw8gQbrqy48ORzlni7VTffKdOoG2ZJoU/s400/DSC_0009-10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220030924458294306" border="0" /> </a>Quiz: who is the most famous of the Phrygians? You'd never guess. You know King Midas, as in the King Midas who could touch anything and turn it into gold? He was the king of the Phrygians. This mound of earth was reported to be his tomb:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jKwQcTql_Y37fznKa4dG6eOsBdfMlx7uU6LYCrVAEZqUv5uiNZmu9soSw5Sd_QvusSAnfvXl5Fj3SMAAxj6EumJnTo-OoCTiFLhQUCcMKInxJmHbUPqTQUOyf_HuXbPGwDEp7Vk4HUM/s1600-h/DSC_0021-11.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jKwQcTql_Y37fznKa4dG6eOsBdfMlx7uU6LYCrVAEZqUv5uiNZmu9soSw5Sd_QvusSAnfvXl5Fj3SMAAxj6EumJnTo-OoCTiFLhQUCcMKInxJmHbUPqTQUOyf_HuXbPGwDEp7Vk4HUM/s400/DSC_0021-11.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220031236487503714" border="0" /></a><br />Inside the earth tomb is a simple wooden building which is the oldest known woodest construction known to man.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55xhEvSrx-xrlEZGfEAFXJhMqiFxJP35yO5rm0eNfbQctV1ZXkT_J8wpvzz6BKsu1kDeBsHG8qyBeiiEIaJzCQPO_ewV0MsH_mrDdq1hSOdXInor-Ko4jjJYbFF6l2I9JPPKwl2V6Ifs/s1600-h/DSC_0015-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55xhEvSrx-xrlEZGfEAFXJhMqiFxJP35yO5rm0eNfbQctV1ZXkT_J8wpvzz6BKsu1kDeBsHG8qyBeiiEIaJzCQPO_ewV0MsH_mrDdq1hSOdXInor-Ko4jjJYbFF6l2I9JPPKwl2V6Ifs/s400/DSC_0015-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220031308189026402" border="0" /></a>The tomb is now actually considered to be that of Gordion, Midas' father.<br /><br />We visited the local museum there and then went back to Ankara. At the bus station, Amanda and I decided to try some Cheetos, only to find that there were not only cheese cheetos but a whole shelf-full of different flavors:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VUnrl6q-Ff2pCwbV5ZL05WrWoG7NDyHuibx-0e5mItZM6Xg_nJNoWV5alrrvXAhjaG6mg3xiqnVueZzyZf2Nj6kY0Kys8a1U__I2Xb54qjXNOiXePdGB4z8lvYAv7chXhCphH_D5Tc4/s1600-h/DSC_0029-10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VUnrl6q-Ff2pCwbV5ZL05WrWoG7NDyHuibx-0e5mItZM6Xg_nJNoWV5alrrvXAhjaG6mg3xiqnVueZzyZf2Nj6kY0Kys8a1U__I2Xb54qjXNOiXePdGB4z8lvYAv7chXhCphH_D5Tc4/s400/DSC_0029-10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220047377493797522" border="0" /></a>I was conservative and stuck with the cheese, but Amanda got some yogurt flavored ones. Delicious.<br /><br />Once back there, we decided to go get something to eat and then headed to a bar to watch the final game of the Eurocup between Germany and Spain - I was pulling for Germany, but Spain ended up pulling it out. We got a tower of Efes:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8OlllAkNLIpaDFoR8Go3i5VHQKqNLO47iaUbJN5xKi-RzJ3R08RT_m-f8MpWZW9Yn4amQ-HSTCNfxLNmqwILDLOLFEqEfYupRjGXN-_aZsYmgb73yo0BqChI8TzJEnLCxUqDlt6mEZs/s1600-h/DSC_0093-10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI8OlllAkNLIpaDFoR8Go3i5VHQKqNLO47iaUbJN5xKi-RzJ3R08RT_m-f8MpWZW9Yn4amQ-HSTCNfxLNmqwILDLOLFEqEfYupRjGXN-_aZsYmgb73yo0BqChI8TzJEnLCxUqDlt6mEZs/s400/DSC_0093-10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220034291513638674" border="0" /></a><br />We also visited Kocatepi Mosque, which is one of the largest mosques in the world. It was huge and very nice inside, and even though it was only built in 1992 it compared to the Blue Mosque back in Istanbul:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxQQUF-v1k_u8mIStx_SExxV1Y5PcGRr3T5kGo9XBEY1p6DBfmFwcHyNmuLrL2ZXNOZ8xUFQHZVff7AgUdqklwh17Efe2tfHc0zlybID1qGEQjfjjUaDX5NlN_Pn8a_eGJecbaAHU6fo/s1600-h/DSC_0036-10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxQQUF-v1k_u8mIStx_SExxV1Y5PcGRr3T5kGo9XBEY1p6DBfmFwcHyNmuLrL2ZXNOZ8xUFQHZVff7AgUdqklwh17Efe2tfHc0zlybID1qGEQjfjjUaDX5NlN_Pn8a_eGJecbaAHU6fo/s400/DSC_0036-10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220034861033823650" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xZ-vn6Js31vahyphenhyphenipLbAeS1mqCSUhxX-yhydBjv7ns1oQRzMHZ7yb6Ki0HfRij-dMUs1PImA9WOQSDIU_XLpExJUGB6HTn2ovFFsYflqktYC-ihmX0FoOeTB4qiIipQOnsaf0atsGFxc/s1600-h/DSC_0064-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9xZ-vn6Js31vahyphenhyphenipLbAeS1mqCSUhxX-yhydBjv7ns1oQRzMHZ7yb6Ki0HfRij-dMUs1PImA9WOQSDIU_XLpExJUGB6HTn2ovFFsYflqktYC-ihmX0FoOeTB4qiIipQOnsaf0atsGFxc/s400/DSC_0064-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220035117459570226" border="0" /></a><br />The chandelier was ra-dik-ulus:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ88HeA14OiltUlNPdkx64-mXjCz8DuW4c3Sp7Vis2-76IPjGFzcMBWyqA8BWRGTGANGFQVPFNkJdVX-2KIsddv_LlXlI50qoabTfIDJy2S_yNV1wTEy2BmJj3fayIp9f5Fs9nlKaZq9g/s1600-h/DSC_0068-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ88HeA14OiltUlNPdkx64-mXjCz8DuW4c3Sp7Vis2-76IPjGFzcMBWyqA8BWRGTGANGFQVPFNkJdVX-2KIsddv_LlXlI50qoabTfIDJy2S_yNV1wTEy2BmJj3fayIp9f5Fs9nlKaZq9g/s400/DSC_0068-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220035011515320130" border="0" /></a>The second day, we were taken around Antikabir - Attaturk's burial place. It was like the Lincoln Memoria but even more grand in scale:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2AviNOkWoifowCjSHLJaP5SmjeU25SoSCUTRjF1ip24czyNtJUbaMwOz2x7bmDOv2NlDMXuPbES2JuhtXWsQkDRtd3R3Hl-xwzx2N-O10zW7PfIyN-CwSOwqkEIZHl-mYazICVZ9-QM/s1600-h/DSC_0112-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq2AviNOkWoifowCjSHLJaP5SmjeU25SoSCUTRjF1ip24czyNtJUbaMwOz2x7bmDOv2NlDMXuPbES2JuhtXWsQkDRtd3R3Hl-xwzx2N-O10zW7PfIyN-CwSOwqkEIZHl-mYazICVZ9-QM/s400/DSC_0112-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220037025787115634" border="0" /></a><br />The Man's tomb:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEEh_V3JbCaPgEJAzoYp0yBaZaZ3Do9wEpsPpU0ifQ7Ra_vzgYI8amMdpA8T64flQtCv7TUgW2C2bWuV-IoE4DrudkuePDeAgPETN5Pc5fMvuxpqBVbrYkNAPihkArV6CeiHFH1RYCJc/s1600-h/DSC_0135-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEEh_V3JbCaPgEJAzoYp0yBaZaZ3Do9wEpsPpU0ifQ7Ra_vzgYI8amMdpA8T64flQtCv7TUgW2C2bWuV-IoE4DrudkuePDeAgPETN5Pc5fMvuxpqBVbrYkNAPihkArV6CeiHFH1RYCJc/s400/DSC_0135-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220037144277238322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedJTNCvoAfH5rTh4zC5HXB-YHhFhkVDs-FihM0A-TvfZBIAUFb8Sso-BuG4FVFkHFyCYpZFO__c7Rlwh8faVXrdj59DLNJ42dsVkV-0xV6UMj9KF_gyLobPlvxVFHc2PLODvZVVLgLZY/s1600-h/DSC_0165-10.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedJTNCvoAfH5rTh4zC5HXB-YHhFhkVDs-FihM0A-TvfZBIAUFb8Sso-BuG4FVFkHFyCYpZFO__c7Rlwh8faVXrdj59DLNJ42dsVkV-0xV6UMj9KF_gyLobPlvxVFHc2PLODvZVVLgLZY/s400/DSC_0165-10.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220037495426656626" border="0" /></a><br />While we were there, a procession of politicians, military generals, businessmen, girl scouts, and taekwondo practicers came in and laid a wreath on the tomb. It is standard practice for any visiting diplomat and for Turkish politicians to lay wreaths whenever they came to the capital; there's a whole process to it.<br /><br />In the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, one of the preeminent museum of pre-Greek and Roman civilizations. They had cave paintings more than 5000 years old:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpkaOCw96IqccMie0EzHSt82gusq2o6CshpGxA8Lw1LkN0mYTMXw68YJgKBGWpl1Xt27lI_bg3xGGcATTnkzjiaL5_9thiAWOvvae3sTvF6gNDH0SO-mHPA-SKOPYKDeyZPGtuRtzSE/s1600-h/DSC_0174-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBpkaOCw96IqccMie0EzHSt82gusq2o6CshpGxA8Lw1LkN0mYTMXw68YJgKBGWpl1Xt27lI_bg3xGGcATTnkzjiaL5_9thiAWOvvae3sTvF6gNDH0SO-mHPA-SKOPYKDeyZPGtuRtzSE/s400/DSC_0174-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220039694662932946" border="0" /></a><br />After that, we got a hotel room for Clayton and Kristina who were feeling bad - Kristina got food poisening from some sketchy looking cig kofte. The rest of us went to dinner at the Ottoman house, which had a nice view of the city.<br /><br />After dinner, we all headed to the train station. After the experience with the Fez bus, we decided it wouldn't be a good idea to take that back to Istanbul. Instead, we went on the Midnight Train to Istanbul - it sounds like an Agatha Christie novel. Here's pictures of people in the compartments:<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEEVquraVqck2AO319gEQgCzBLxt9fW_gWnH6RcYtvEGGdBBjUcEmRtzSJJAW6QL9Jw2YqMLCH2iLp6d2KefVR3EsJ2rBIfpevEcxif0bA0Gn12H22Vt5CxnnGBlLE_D5YNFgZ7gpLqDo/s1600-h/DSC_0210-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEEVquraVqck2AO319gEQgCzBLxt9fW_gWnH6RcYtvEGGdBBjUcEmRtzSJJAW6QL9Jw2YqMLCH2iLp6d2KefVR3EsJ2rBIfpevEcxif0bA0Gn12H22Vt5CxnnGBlLE_D5YNFgZ7gpLqDo/s400/DSC_0210-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220041416287228178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36PI2fhbaglDIhrh0hBl-mWeSO3EQa87gsiuSuMDtePm9xrvh55rynkAXnhHTnqG_RgbFJGVKM31PkTvUmjPABBFC9frCOceeIEB152iJGsvzpfMaypY6VgkgtrZjCZQaDToa6R0f9G0/s1600-h/DSC_0209-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36PI2fhbaglDIhrh0hBl-mWeSO3EQa87gsiuSuMDtePm9xrvh55rynkAXnhHTnqG_RgbFJGVKM31PkTvUmjPABBFC9frCOceeIEB152iJGsvzpfMaypY6VgkgtrZjCZQaDToa6R0f9G0/s400/DSC_0209-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220041337916585394" border="0" /></a><br />The people that were doing alright decided to have a darty in our train compartment. It was crazy. At one point, Edward pretended to be a BBC reporter, and at another we danced on top of the train cushions. 'Twas fun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDo0PZ2wILG4Kn2A6FhyphenhyphenFIkaB_gZzCG4O75PCsHsioSYk8QepewohqUT3pwsR4j4uJfsXz00KdVhxOmhKFGmKjowzmykWr1jEEz6MxyxHyLggzdir5L1VRSGLh7F95QHPW_5PtqoqEXJg/s1600-h/DSC_0212.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDo0PZ2wILG4Kn2A6FhyphenhyphenFIkaB_gZzCG4O75PCsHsioSYk8QepewohqUT3pwsR4j4uJfsXz00KdVhxOmhKFGmKjowzmykWr1jEEz6MxyxHyLggzdir5L1VRSGLh7F95QHPW_5PtqoqEXJg/s400/DSC_0212.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220041545198491810" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1KURw1locpKx-uwImlb67rFSOwk1vc6z5lg5DuDnBonz8WbHdQPNU13CyzycRZTGiUxW7JcLhU91_7tnufqgL9T8lp0Sq9-Azc6Ze2o3Ps2zRcHU26l87m_ZmMMk55MB4bHJ_N6dnXY/s1600-h/DSC_0233-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1KURw1locpKx-uwImlb67rFSOwk1vc6z5lg5DuDnBonz8WbHdQPNU13CyzycRZTGiUxW7JcLhU91_7tnufqgL9T8lp0Sq9-Azc6Ze2o3Ps2zRcHU26l87m_ZmMMk55MB4bHJ_N6dnXY/s400/DSC_0233-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220044617903021186" border="0" /></a>The train pulled into Hayderpasa station at about 7:30 am the next morning. Needless to say, we were all exhausted from the trip and ready to be back at home.. er.. Istanbul. It's good to be back.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-40356815596171809822008-07-01T12:58:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:42:53.280-08:00Day 10, 11 & 12: Cappadocia<span style="font-size:85%;">After the little adventure in the village, we were off to the penultimate place on our journey - the valleys, mountains and cliffs of Cappadocia.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKphu3jelsvqBmdlq_0Zp2hjodQJqmsAAqVVw5pbHVLtlkQtSNaKn6ns_FO0oUZj-_gYSa7Hr8q4hWBukKmx8e11Ov466qKNXEgC5PcO88IaLYaS_T4m3gdOxSNz2Np0ZX8VjWwg86eU/s1600-h/roadtrip+day+10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKphu3jelsvqBmdlq_0Zp2hjodQJqmsAAqVVw5pbHVLtlkQtSNaKn6ns_FO0oUZj-_gYSa7Hr8q4hWBukKmx8e11Ov466qKNXEgC5PcO88IaLYaS_T4m3gdOxSNz2Np0ZX8VjWwg86eU/s400/roadtrip+day+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218138953958320450" border="0" /></a>Cappadocia is the most bizarre place I've ever been to. Cappadocia itself is a region between three ancient volcanoes that spewed rock, silt and lava for thousands of years. The hundreds of meters of silt were worn down by wind and rain and formed cliffs and rock formations that are utterly weird in every sense of the word. Besides the weirdly shaped cliffs, erosion caused the formation of rock formations called "fairy chimneys".<br /><br />We arrived at our hostel in Uchisar, which is a town on the base of the tallest of the fairy chimneys in the Cappadocia region. People have been coming to the region for thousands of years because it is so attractive to people who are fleeing persecution. These people, especially early Christians who settled the region around 300 A.D., built caves into the cliffs. Uchisar is actually Turkish for three castles - the settlers of Uchisar actually built a series of dwellings into the mountain, and I actually climbed to the top of it was able to see caves and rooms people had used.<br /><br />The hostel where we stayed, the Kilim Pension, was probably the nicest place we stayed at in all of our journey. The place had a magnificent view of the entire Cappadocia valley:<br /><br />Apart from the great breakfast and dinners we had at the pension, the coolest thing about it was that we got to stay in caves. The hotel rooms were actually carved into the mountain, which we all thought was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It actually turned out being kind of irritating, since the rock in the cave was so soft that any vibrations caused rock and dust to fall from around the cave. By the end of it, all our bags were covered in rock dust and we were all very annoyed. Still, people continue to live like this throughout the area - people still build into caves:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebTASy6OQaOiK9fv6sXPG9zuhDqQ13S5OUtiP4xEL56azvU2Blx0Yxs3fpvvw1d7qRQBojDV3lnFnZRtxJ-kG85dLH-sTVkNXofS_mMf2rwJH1GOqBDccAtRMxyCFNN5UCoKvTWsR_ZU/s1600-h/DSC_0008-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebTASy6OQaOiK9fv6sXPG9zuhDqQ13S5OUtiP4xEL56azvU2Blx0Yxs3fpvvw1d7qRQBojDV3lnFnZRtxJ-kG85dLH-sTVkNXofS_mMf2rwJH1GOqBDccAtRMxyCFNN5UCoKvTWsR_ZU/s400/DSC_0008-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218158230446531634" border="0" /></a><br />By far the coolest thing I did in the entire trip was going ballooning. They say Cappadocia is second best place in the world to go ballooning, with the first being over the Serengetti. Our balloon captain thought different, and he's probably right. I got up at 4 am with Edward, Amanda and Kelly and after getting ready waited in the cold to be picked up. A mystic Turkish driver tried talking to us for 10 minutes before finally telling us to get into his van, and we headed off to the balloon launching place. We saw them inflating the balloons, which was cool in and of itself:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-ZZGnAM68Bs0KWSWnAmSaZ1TYYm8PB6JKvM1WT5GQQf49H6nuXgjhgazP9dglaP4lZkwaH__Ckns36SaHZqXWit7q2a3AXTHSLJwXn_YLyQ88lNABHwWaFtNKQYLLG3lir3ORzF3sG8/s1600-h/DSC_0048-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-ZZGnAM68Bs0KWSWnAmSaZ1TYYm8PB6JKvM1WT5GQQf49H6nuXgjhgazP9dglaP4lZkwaH__Ckns36SaHZqXWit7q2a3AXTHSLJwXn_YLyQ88lNABHwWaFtNKQYLLG3lir3ORzF3sG8/s400/DSC_0048-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218161273074999682" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9vkm5lZ2m7s2XQfGh-z-lSdaJ7X2r9Ubhd930ZiHJXYd2xZZEtCt8VVH-UCAhvetUG0m4JRLbiPKbNVoyoCawYFk0jH0b3w3gw6BVqN5-ykEOeqWrXirKaeyS_jG6J7EtTHPGeEp-ws/s1600-h/DSC_0089-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9vkm5lZ2m7s2XQfGh-z-lSdaJ7X2r9Ubhd930ZiHJXYd2xZZEtCt8VVH-UCAhvetUG0m4JRLbiPKbNVoyoCawYFk0jH0b3w3gw6BVqN5-ykEOeqWrXirKaeyS_jG6J7EtTHPGeEp-ws/s400/DSC_0089-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218165953420554882" border="0" /></a><br />After a while, the Turkish guy in charge told us that two little girls would find us and take us to the correct balloon. Sure enough, two little Turkish women came up to us and told us to get into another van, which took us to a balloon on the other side of a cliff. It was perfect - the balloon ended up fitting 6 of us and the captain and copilot, instead of 20 like the other balloons. The Aussie captain got us onboard and we were off.<br /><br />Let's just say that ballooning was, along with Bursa, the best experience I've had in Turkey. I think the others with me were annoyed by how giddy I was about how beautiful the scenery was. The captain took us over a plateau and once we went over the ridge the entire Cappadocia valley spread below us and into the distance, with Uchisar on the horizon. Words cannot describe how beautiful everything was. I took 400 pictures in one hour - here's a sample:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSUYxwf2-0RxyVdkcSmKu7IVZxw-5lHU9Skx9wgVNt9NymEjviV7gKGosqUfDxx6WPkmPSTpbPyft6TdfMlP3QXpIlP_dFPHg3SZA052J_hR47HjTQaLibiAQVOgmJHkp1iQ4fzXSiEk/s1600-h/DSC_0059-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSUYxwf2-0RxyVdkcSmKu7IVZxw-5lHU9Skx9wgVNt9NymEjviV7gKGosqUfDxx6WPkmPSTpbPyft6TdfMlP3QXpIlP_dFPHg3SZA052J_hR47HjTQaLibiAQVOgmJHkp1iQ4fzXSiEk/s400/DSC_0059-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218161403875532530" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9uFpihubkyViygPuBVXAUSl3sFpBYwFM2dnPxsQx9VRrbz9mInYlFofCXLDmWyBYnyEe51PMfX3akb29isETrcw2p8kXmiJWPYgofRDgUTNpoDpAgIBhG31VJNHwa9WQbs5UtwpNPYA/s1600-h/DSC_0079-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc9uFpihubkyViygPuBVXAUSl3sFpBYwFM2dnPxsQx9VRrbz9mInYlFofCXLDmWyBYnyEe51PMfX3akb29isETrcw2p8kXmiJWPYgofRDgUTNpoDpAgIBhG31VJNHwa9WQbs5UtwpNPYA/s400/DSC_0079-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218165756929980402" border="0" /></a></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qiU3JcqLECIdfUsE3AzKlBtjfdfJFKch9mz7JClcS_4VkYkXUWfEM_xR2WkmBNHgGpBZT5tNoELmDyUQ3DoPQ3QsPm0HsUcVcHCTeeCBy6xYM181xof3JnYKTuQEww6VorFQiwlMPms/s1600-h/DSC_0167-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qiU3JcqLECIdfUsE3AzKlBtjfdfJFKch9mz7JClcS_4VkYkXUWfEM_xR2WkmBNHgGpBZT5tNoELmDyUQ3DoPQ3QsPm0HsUcVcHCTeeCBy6xYM181xof3JnYKTuQEww6VorFQiwlMPms/s400/DSC_0167-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218172154323445154" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5zgXkqeCRzCo81XgUC4MHUHeYanMU72zZ3UmI4MzOHBOc0Fv3qOq00qW_J7iRb97_MPj1B2cN3SECADfQbv9vkbnVajp2Y-s8OQkyGi3pUuulWGulid6vWyZSQv9AMwzWylC6KNBXAI/s1600-h/DSC_0262-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb5zgXkqeCRzCo81XgUC4MHUHeYanMU72zZ3UmI4MzOHBOc0Fv3qOq00qW_J7iRb97_MPj1B2cN3SECADfQbv9vkbnVajp2Y-s8OQkyGi3pUuulWGulid6vWyZSQv9AMwzWylC6KNBXAI/s400/DSC_0262-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218177002955288162" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEqA39bd6AJNRQ-vO4KQ01oadMEzccDcV76bzgghhq7tw0CtL9ngasCfqFYxMTsCBMyL43MLMUhJryNNsTVszXdkxLeIyU6tNeb3Wq2gSe09P2JkvsO1VXMWjLxwI48uaucPd9iJfJW4/s1600-h/DSC_0219-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEqA39bd6AJNRQ-vO4KQ01oadMEzccDcV76bzgghhq7tw0CtL9ngasCfqFYxMTsCBMyL43MLMUhJryNNsTVszXdkxLeIyU6tNeb3Wq2gSe09P2JkvsO1VXMWjLxwI48uaucPd9iJfJW4/s400/DSC_0219-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218174075926297874" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgac3e83l0DdJHy0Yv9B9kiSwSpb3ruXSoeodzBB_9CM0c1azYziRvkpJOa-TVzcHF-EvXoHrXbyK7e5qcvVpIjyYoQN3bQ46Girr4l_UxIR-JLI02g_kn2vHRpoUPpo_ACL2GccZBABZc/s1600-h/DSC_0345-32.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgac3e83l0DdJHy0Yv9B9kiSwSpb3ruXSoeodzBB_9CM0c1azYziRvkpJOa-TVzcHF-EvXoHrXbyK7e5qcvVpIjyYoQN3bQ46Girr4l_UxIR-JLI02g_kn2vHRpoUPpo_ACL2GccZBABZc/s400/DSC_0345-32.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218178495641122978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Uchisar Castle is the mountain jutting out. Our hotel was near the top of it.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_48MdQAcP2l7dnKeZuab_LotPUARlEayyqUp9i2_GjteNz6j4ZmuXC1tmgwnQc7BA4QDkM7M9mezQDPqKxXHzNu5gBfAaCXuvCCTzUxQleLMEFIw2-lJbVh3SWywGwLmixWYTDV7fKQg/s1600-h/DSC_0306-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_48MdQAcP2l7dnKeZuab_LotPUARlEayyqUp9i2_GjteNz6j4ZmuXC1tmgwnQc7BA4QDkM7M9mezQDPqKxXHzNu5gBfAaCXuvCCTzUxQleLMEFIw2-lJbVh3SWywGwLmixWYTDV7fKQg/s400/DSC_0306-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218178492794327138" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjOWtp3PUSrjvztLkMIifhyAF1uAq1q8nVG0UhNAnBx-rAJaFMNbMAdKoIVBn_Nzc81gdAV-Jt3YAn190YEtoSt-NaNIx6u4ipO6HIPtjAlSa3Iwv48xiasFtc6e9tLSU-rQQvMdpjy4/s1600-h/DSC_0246-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjOWtp3PUSrjvztLkMIifhyAF1uAq1q8nVG0UhNAnBx-rAJaFMNbMAdKoIVBn_Nzc81gdAV-Jt3YAn190YEtoSt-NaNIx6u4ipO6HIPtjAlSa3Iwv48xiasFtc6e9tLSU-rQQvMdpjy4/s400/DSC_0246-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218176145751376498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">There's a lot of ballooning in Cappadocia, which makes for a really pretty view. Here's a whole bunch of them with Uchisar in the back center.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT91cCbvGLMghcWpjo_E4hKWO0DIv68_ovHk3xYRNlSv-eWBAlsJVqg0I9jQcQ4vBF86msbunLrv2YohQD93zkmWbw1XE3W7jQuY4lhirIK1wDuKHV8hlGRq-r85AYEY4kLGJ6xPNrWdQ/s1600-h/DSC_0103-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT91cCbvGLMghcWpjo_E4hKWO0DIv68_ovHk3xYRNlSv-eWBAlsJVqg0I9jQcQ4vBF86msbunLrv2YohQD93zkmWbw1XE3W7jQuY4lhirIK1wDuKHV8hlGRq-r85AYEY4kLGJ6xPNrWdQ/s400/DSC_0103-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218168312954867378" border="0" /></a><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkH-FUSiRD12TzxitZvHvnY7Wl7c3LKToYGMNSAPtLGyLWNEioEsstL0-80cIa7wH0YCS4-lPV7QNrIK0wvNHcr7OqlEYSyHdMKSAdqrs0EX04TuQEthqb6AEF0JHwXESAtoEpXnSrWM/s1600-h/DSC_0179-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAkH-FUSiRD12TzxitZvHvnY7Wl7c3LKToYGMNSAPtLGyLWNEioEsstL0-80cIa7wH0YCS4-lPV7QNrIK0wvNHcr7OqlEYSyHdMKSAdqrs0EX04TuQEthqb6AEF0JHwXESAtoEpXnSrWM/s400/DSC_0179-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218172750918871922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDknKKsW5ZnXvOlwH87OQ0G9Nq22iELRwcs6AM2r5mCISNaY-J96AsULo5A1DichR9r6U_-RF882hJ3deeN5AHG7jlE3z1af8IOltCADhtp30B7njDbGY5mibyOTkx2CCmf226Mi5mCE/s1600-h/DSC_0108-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDknKKsW5ZnXvOlwH87OQ0G9Nq22iELRwcs6AM2r5mCISNaY-J96AsULo5A1DichR9r6U_-RF882hJ3deeN5AHG7jlE3z1af8IOltCADhtp30B7njDbGY5mibyOTkx2CCmf226Mi5mCE/s400/DSC_0108-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218168641976406338" border="0" /></a><br />At one point, we were so low that we could actually pick apricots off of some trees and eat them:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1k_085YvwGVB15N8816ug68THhkvSTLx7dFR0gtYgnrPATSSweouIs6y3ZOxFvyYGy-XxgFYfSmRWPgSrx9uFulfJ_TBUpTc0ryFqo6xpKDwDrwbAOVzHh159Q3c0UP92E7GGmj7Pn1I/s1600-h/DSC_0206-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1k_085YvwGVB15N8816ug68THhkvSTLx7dFR0gtYgnrPATSSweouIs6y3ZOxFvyYGy-XxgFYfSmRWPgSrx9uFulfJ_TBUpTc0ryFqo6xpKDwDrwbAOVzHh159Q3c0UP92E7GGmj7Pn1I/s400/DSC_0206-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218173634771394866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A view of our balloon from the hotel - William took this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi6GiVd7M1bCGk3M7HKfOLdSUqf5971eVUjx9xFVq1mLoNkVsEu2vSpeuMhDEXub5m6h5yTO4lELLt3JLAubs1pV1yNEKeVRm5U8hyphenhyphenQPySxtkLkYwXNWjR_4KvQ46_CbVoUe6GUo2G5g/s1600-h/DSC09938.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTi6GiVd7M1bCGk3M7HKfOLdSUqf5971eVUjx9xFVq1mLoNkVsEu2vSpeuMhDEXub5m6h5yTO4lELLt3JLAubs1pV1yNEKeVRm5U8hyphenhyphenQPySxtkLkYwXNWjR_4KvQ46_CbVoUe6GUo2G5g/s400/DSC09938.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218153095826927522" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After about an hour and a half in the air, we came down. A pickup on the ground follows the balloon while the balloon captain carefully lowers the balloon into an empty field or road. The landing was very smooth. Afterwards, we were given champagne by the captain - apparently, it is a tradition to drink champagne after every balloon flight.<br /><br />After we got back, we ate breakfast, took a nap and then were off again. We hiked with everyone for 2 hours from Uchisar down to Goreme, the main town in Cappadocia. The hike was long but nice - we walked through a beautiful canyon full of the weird-looking wavy cliffs Cappadocia is famous for:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVAnEETCmE-NUhuG82PJFrayNbRZoVZGetWgzKsZABfdqmHjPN4_9hL38yE69KTtEThRavH3JYECbZj5h-ZWO0DWhbm6mKGVRWdVH2K8H6JFRxtprA3lBF1v5k9nXlyaY9Ib2nChdTSQ/s1600-h/DSC_0066-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVAnEETCmE-NUhuG82PJFrayNbRZoVZGetWgzKsZABfdqmHjPN4_9hL38yE69KTtEThRavH3JYECbZj5h-ZWO0DWhbm6mKGVRWdVH2K8H6JFRxtprA3lBF1v5k9nXlyaY9Ib2nChdTSQ/s400/DSC_0066-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218161946191348450" border="0" /></a>After eating lunch, we got in a bus and went to the open air museum at Goreme. The open air museum is basically a collection of monasteries, churches and other buildings built into the caves in the earliest centuries after Christ. This monastery used to house 300 priests:<br /><br /><br /><br />I don't really understand why early Christians used this area as a way to hide from their enemies, since the region was along a major trade route and the entrances to the caves weren't exactly hidden from sight, but it's still impressive to go into them. They painted really impressive frescoes onto the walls of their churches:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNT-1-L0bQcWYA6rw2O7y5LPgVK_W26LCHdPafrtD_LXKh6RjtY0xGtFwqU-yrC-Ggc0UVNBfwEgh7ZPsoWNPPYSd6jOvnKaGs-AZNJooWtipUPu1NyFAlJCKt6kvIRtGldF81HDG9eJA/s1600-h/DSC_0108-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNT-1-L0bQcWYA6rw2O7y5LPgVK_W26LCHdPafrtD_LXKh6RjtY0xGtFwqU-yrC-Ggc0UVNBfwEgh7ZPsoWNPPYSd6jOvnKaGs-AZNJooWtipUPu1NyFAlJCKt6kvIRtGldF81HDG9eJA/s400/DSC_0108-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218169175131526066" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx_mcpbVoEEV8pi0EsZrmuYxuevt9yF40nn3wIHAVPYEg2j9RN7j50WC0-fvwXgk6jQROf1A1oUn6h6m-0mJWUSAAKln4hSRTQ2pH7fFzo3fTAJT5dODHWXnoqJDTMtn7BSSFpe4lacQ/s1600-h/DSC_0098-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirx_mcpbVoEEV8pi0EsZrmuYxuevt9yF40nn3wIHAVPYEg2j9RN7j50WC0-fvwXgk6jQROf1A1oUn6h6m-0mJWUSAAKln4hSRTQ2pH7fFzo3fTAJT5dODHWXnoqJDTMtn7BSSFpe4lacQ/s400/DSC_0098-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218166458764833650" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0tZfwR4_eD1Qu1Kse4WtUKn6PgzFeuw8Wic3ClGvlQaxgwiqCZoFzHgjIyxMCdQoemc_DtKCsfD9tAUjtNSUH7mSPsT1agFO3V_O4xGTMmXFY_ZONcRBjDIRb-2z3BE2KyRzyUCCue0/s1600-h/DSC_0117-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0tZfwR4_eD1Qu1Kse4WtUKn6PgzFeuw8Wic3ClGvlQaxgwiqCZoFzHgjIyxMCdQoemc_DtKCsfD9tAUjtNSUH7mSPsT1agFO3V_O4xGTMmXFY_ZONcRBjDIRb-2z3BE2KyRzyUCCue0/s400/DSC_0117-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218170455859992482" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGnMMJN4stFfunVt9vV-DWkq5Ka4W5_UeEORTK5M3qgM-RO4j8eF9_6lQkzItFPwc-Fb9s_uB60osDha_XXOBHHtq4mBk3s7U8ioR5YDhcfawwQfNCICu1w8WhzGVOv4t9fwycxo7BGQ/s1600-h/DSC_0100-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilGnMMJN4stFfunVt9vV-DWkq5Ka4W5_UeEORTK5M3qgM-RO4j8eF9_6lQkzItFPwc-Fb9s_uB60osDha_XXOBHHtq4mBk3s7U8ioR5YDhcfawwQfNCICu1w8WhzGVOv4t9fwycxo7BGQ/s400/DSC_0100-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218167724250467186" border="0" /></a><br />After the Open Air Museum, we got some dinner back at the hotel. The next day, we loaded up on a van for a thirty minute ride to visit one of the many underground cities built in the area. Whoever built the cities did an extensive job of tunneling underground - the largest city goes 9 floors underground, had stables, churches, food storage, air vents, baths and more, fitting more than 60,000 people for more than a month at a time. It was very impressive. It was also very claustrophobic - the tunnels were apparently built for midgets, as this picture attests:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCTqeNR4sv4tLChj7qYPqhjSlyIBf8KU7wxexQPxzJLO5hH3zwyqt-qFGCyncu8sOq5Re-C9EDABt7Jc0deV_01lX7tDKl6SPl6yO_q8Dcc5vbQeN8Yv2_cZ6-hsTU7yV9OZHPIsiFxg/s1600-h/DSC_0196-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaCTqeNR4sv4tLChj7qYPqhjSlyIBf8KU7wxexQPxzJLO5hH3zwyqt-qFGCyncu8sOq5Re-C9EDABt7Jc0deV_01lX7tDKl6SPl6yO_q8Dcc5vbQeN8Yv2_cZ6-hsTU7yV9OZHPIsiFxg/s400/DSC_0196-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218173002636537538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNmZX2-gS6dLdoadpI3xkZfXVun9t9KXvQWZ-xwA0z-U9q023gmQg5vJwHE0Msi8ZAAKki9NcSsRbvh4HLNcSjVsNeg8wcTUYEviunMM_ah3VQW-e3RkqYdr-4Khd-5KonTQ29H1mnP8/s1600-h/DSC_0149-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNmZX2-gS6dLdoadpI3xkZfXVun9t9KXvQWZ-xwA0z-U9q023gmQg5vJwHE0Msi8ZAAKki9NcSsRbvh4HLNcSjVsNeg8wcTUYEviunMM_ah3VQW-e3RkqYdr-4Khd-5KonTQ29H1mnP8/s400/DSC_0149-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218170845532502802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">At one point, we were at the deepest level and were stuck because people kept coming down the 1 way stairs. It got kind of scary because we had at least 150 people crammed into a small room at the bottom of this cave with more people coming down the 1-way stairs. We did finally make it out though.<br /><br />After the city, we went to another canyon where cave houses and churches line the rocky cliffs on either sides. The coolest thing about the caves is that there's no signs or bars or anything promoting or hiding them - they were simply there. It was up to us to clamber up into them and see if it was just a room or an actual system of caves. Here's us climbing into one:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1UOedALtLTNk6FAfkvw-IiGpm46kxnX25Ad_aQaT81_37t9pxfqPaFWpEH2L143mBI0dxPrPzwsAcLWMFXRcgTJZ4iG3iojqOaGeVrNcUet4UpaiYXKCBly6UsAG8ZFkUPI6T-NxJyE/s1600-h/DSC_0219-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1UOedALtLTNk6FAfkvw-IiGpm46kxnX25Ad_aQaT81_37t9pxfqPaFWpEH2L143mBI0dxPrPzwsAcLWMFXRcgTJZ4iG3iojqOaGeVrNcUet4UpaiYXKCBly6UsAG8ZFkUPI6T-NxJyE/s400/DSC_0219-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218174445132774226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">We walked into one that had tunnels stretching far into the interior of the mountain - guided only by the light of our phones, we started to get very freaked out and half-expected something to pop out at us (something that I ended up doing to Edward and Amanda, which scared them so much that Edward fell over). Here's one of some of the group at a church:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORXWNxe78kvqzBW7FU7VI0yJ8l-wjtMBlDONXLLqpvxJayj6aRd0GeBALYYZwFxNSIPyTqiuo53Nu83ZvBa8Uty9p8bJrhehID9jTqw7XQvTzdnNB7iIyOyedzoIJ9ehcafzzdLfj_RI/s1600-h/DSC_0232-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORXWNxe78kvqzBW7FU7VI0yJ8l-wjtMBlDONXLLqpvxJayj6aRd0GeBALYYZwFxNSIPyTqiuo53Nu83ZvBa8Uty9p8bJrhehID9jTqw7XQvTzdnNB7iIyOyedzoIJ9ehcafzzdLfj_RI/s400/DSC_0232-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218174446996732674" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">And one of Emily with the canyons behind her:<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">After hiking the 7 kilometers and visiting three of the churches</span><span style="font-size:85%;">and some other houses, we finally arrived where Prof Shields was waiting for us. We then got on the van and headed for an old volcano crater turned lake:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0VggE__2y-gTRvJpvbzm69SQWi2myWnr9WKyXYk4ObC-xlhW9OFOagm6Z4zpA1L6CeKrqYx3WjA8ov9iE2cx8P-9RQMtoGpwskUdjg8n7PG6S2GMYg6l5D59fkOWFNNR_Ml2FarJx0A/s1600-h/DSC_0266-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha0VggE__2y-gTRvJpvbzm69SQWi2myWnr9WKyXYk4ObC-xlhW9OFOagm6Z4zpA1L6CeKrqYx3WjA8ov9iE2cx8P-9RQMtoGpwskUdjg8n7PG6S2GMYg6l5D59fkOWFNNR_Ml2FarJx0A/s400/DSC_0266-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218177641034085826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">We went swimming and soon found that the ground wasn't actually earth or sand but decomposing reeds that we would sink through like quick sand. It was gross. We decided to swim across it which was pretty impressive for me, since I hadn't really swam since middle school. It was a distance of probably 8-900 meters, so close to a kilometer.<br /><br />We were all exhausted afterwards but still managed to sing songs from Mulan and other movies for the entire ride back. Yes, we're a bunch of 4th graders, but that's ok.<br /><br />The next day we met with Prof to talk about Cappadoccia and about our experience in the village. It was really interesting to compare Memed My Hawk, a Turkish novel about life in rural Turkey we all read with the actual thing.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />After that, most of us got back on the bus and were taken to walk through Red Valley, which is one of the famous valleys in the area. It was a nice hike and went close to the cliffs which seem to compare to the Grand Canyon:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinnPDE88lvRVTn610vIXBE-gVMVOZwyIiIP1QYSs-WJp_DHJi3UzCrE20NLDP6d80cSenD7znNg48GFHW1eH33OPzDu1eCGGR8t6PbQ_t1JL_L-DI4-QH00hijqHodyFJVCnWet2XCjlU/s1600-h/DSC_0355-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinnPDE88lvRVTn610vIXBE-gVMVOZwyIiIP1QYSs-WJp_DHJi3UzCrE20NLDP6d80cSenD7znNg48GFHW1eH33OPzDu1eCGGR8t6PbQ_t1JL_L-DI4-QH00hijqHodyFJVCnWet2XCjlU/s400/DSC_0355-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218179431737295986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">We also got to go into a cave that ended up being a magnificent church with huge columns. It was really nice - and it was crazy that we had just stumbled into a random cave to find something like this. Incredible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmfW7VpstwVuThB9HpgyGuFDVWoMibFLTC-foxCpMSfc5G40QGvMnqqe-aDYt-S8ETY9mWms3wGhOtL1-YToN271WC5JT0HFy_d6x-_LQxiXonb6TrWnNQaNk2lxYKYk-KNLE1Gjc0QE/s1600-h/DSC_0019-9.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmfW7VpstwVuThB9HpgyGuFDVWoMibFLTC-foxCpMSfc5G40QGvMnqqe-aDYt-S8ETY9mWms3wGhOtL1-YToN271WC5JT0HFy_d6x-_LQxiXonb6TrWnNQaNk2lxYKYk-KNLE1Gjc0QE/s400/DSC_0019-9.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218160965328685394" border="0" /></a><br />After Red Valley, we got all our stuff and headed to the point where we'd get picked up by Fez. Cappadocia was incredible - if you ever have a chance to come here, do it. It's amazing.<br /><br /><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-53849027322722063422008-06-28T00:46:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:42:56.069-08:00Day 8 & 9: EsenlerNote about the map, again. This post is about Esenler, the small village outside of Konya that we stayed at. Cappadocia comes later:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2ViAoEKrxnt0y1ZAFQFKiEJbU8EjM3DuqC3h58mI8ehELeUOQTXazHk3xMONTXU3c-QJWIK2kMyXXUYgeFryV1BMOwf-suw0J5p1RBREPV0Xq06Zn-enfGtQpLPInkc0nDbDYvLpmrk/s1600-h/roadtrip+day+10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2ViAoEKrxnt0y1ZAFQFKiEJbU8EjM3DuqC3h58mI8ehELeUOQTXazHk3xMONTXU3c-QJWIK2kMyXXUYgeFryV1BMOwf-suw0J5p1RBREPV0Xq06Zn-enfGtQpLPInkc0nDbDYvLpmrk/s400/roadtrip+day+10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216847450817687922" border="0" /></a><br />After Konya, the profs arranged with Mehmet from the carpet shop for us to go to a mountain village where he was from and stay with families there. We drove to the village in a small van and it took us 2 hours to get there driving through plains, valleys and mountains, and passing many small villages along the way. The first night I wrote a summary of what I did the first day:<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;">We arrived in the village at about 1. It took us a good two hours to get here from Konya, most of it through back roads. We passed many small villages on the way here, but the place we stopped at was literally the end of the road – there are no more villages after it. We unloaded our stuff and then got back on the bus to go to picnic we had planned. The bus took us on the road to a rocky bluff, where we found a formation of rocks to eat on. After eating, we hiked around a bit, climbing to a cliff where there was a dramatic view of the valley below. We were standing on the Taurus mountains, which wind their way up central Turkey, and so from our viewpoint we could see some really tall mountains still covered with snow.</p>Clayton on the cliff overlooking the valley below:<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE83rgFO9PQGHU6AQKmxw_iDQmMnA9s2duxuXFGeT3IOYVUR1isusSekb-Nvwdd9nlsGVKVy-pMYqFEPmY43kgfUkbpJSJ1gAzFdm2NeQ-QF6KxAiNMw8zzNuvw661gOJSU9UzzEgwRro/s1600-h/DSC_0105-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE83rgFO9PQGHU6AQKmxw_iDQmMnA9s2duxuXFGeT3IOYVUR1isusSekb-Nvwdd9nlsGVKVy-pMYqFEPmY43kgfUkbpJSJ1gAzFdm2NeQ-QF6KxAiNMw8zzNuvw661gOJSU9UzzEgwRro/s400/DSC_0105-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216837258560808370" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">Climbing around the cliffs:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBG5JyCkozDSq1mOXG7rSj7P5OqPD5Ir9QlNGMcx3P44k0n5pCVz183Gd5YupTIKz-fW9-8R86aAOyyrvAV-pe_ZLkKL-Oe7ssg1Ac7V50QsDmbL7SH_j7Z64dEtp_TCFxfygxY2JBEsQ/s1600-h/DSC_0116-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBG5JyCkozDSq1mOXG7rSj7P5OqPD5Ir9QlNGMcx3P44k0n5pCVz183Gd5YupTIKz-fW9-8R86aAOyyrvAV-pe_ZLkKL-Oe7ssg1Ac7V50QsDmbL7SH_j7Z64dEtp_TCFxfygxY2JBEsQ/s400/DSC_0116-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216837551298194002" border="0" /></a> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;">After coming back from the picnic, we took the bus and got to where we had left our belongings. The people there were laying out rugs – Turkish rugs and kilims are among the most famous in the world – in order to fade them out a bit. Carpets can be laid out for several weeks or months, depending on how much fading you want for the carpet. Apparently, in previous years as many as 4000 carpets are laid out at one time, covering the hillsides. Now, though, only 300 carpets were being laid out, a consequence of young people leaving the villages where weavers traditionally come from to move to big cities like Konya and Istanbul.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67bN06AFYUV-v-jNpqQ8NVK1MlVbh6NaOujTQ-jbTQsc42ql0ZNelgPuwg3Cst5dMjWM09lOMqW7QUQF2GUA-wD7JIOcbKnjZg1Rf-gmqc-wVVDwuKz9YH5aa22ZNrKCnV9pqVo4UMO0/s1600-h/DSC_0230-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67bN06AFYUV-v-jNpqQ8NVK1MlVbh6NaOujTQ-jbTQsc42ql0ZNelgPuwg3Cst5dMjWM09lOMqW7QUQF2GUA-wD7JIOcbKnjZg1Rf-gmqc-wVVDwuKz9YH5aa22ZNrKCnV9pqVo4UMO0/s400/DSC_0230-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216840829442095826" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"> Muammer, who organized the trip for us, brought a few carpets for us to sit on, and some nice Turkish women served us tea. After sitting around for a bit, we finally received room assignments – two of the girls and William and Prof Shields would stay in one house, the other four girls would stay in another house, Edward and Clayton would stay in one house, and Kevin and I would each stay in separate houses. This surprised us, since we all expected to stay in pairs, but it was fine with me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;">Unfortunately, I was kind of disappointed with the home I stayed in – I’m very grateful for Bekir and his wife having opened up their home to me, but I really wanted to be able to interact more with a family. Instead, the couple I stayed with were older and had four sons, three of whom were living in Konya and one in Poland. The wife didn’t really stick around and I ended up seeing her only when she brought food in; the husband was nice but not a very good talker, so we ended up having a lot of awkward moments. I would try saying something in Turkish, and he would either respond in something I didn’t understand, or would laugh. Needless to say, our conversations didn't go very far.</p>The house I stayed in:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAvFPE9Rmb8y3-83tTMZZxdXs9gxZCAtlyD24ydYIXgsQNkU1bXqBoa9zLEEQHKuxmyD4wvDYlaFAdEq2gLfUydulB2rp95GICgdX_ImeHmLa89QnaZUFJmUDpD61ykNGmVZCoWwtRH0/s1600-h/DSC_0322-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAvFPE9Rmb8y3-83tTMZZxdXs9gxZCAtlyD24ydYIXgsQNkU1bXqBoa9zLEEQHKuxmyD4wvDYlaFAdEq2gLfUydulB2rp95GICgdX_ImeHmLa89QnaZUFJmUDpD61ykNGmVZCoWwtRH0/s400/DSC_0322-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216845833739306386" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And the bathroom, which was across the street, non western and not working. I tried to spend as little time there as possible:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3pQkZkXzlZLHGlQ4Ild8gm94957dJITmOg0wrS4i3ADm8M40KlTEChL4IUgKKXzStFJtxqodoOCxRGrE-LdhE3T3H32dpWT9ML4NmtJaqq1Zzk8KP5P-OTESWT8pBHjT_2aTtF1q_LA/s1600-h/DSC_0323-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin3pQkZkXzlZLHGlQ4Ild8gm94957dJITmOg0wrS4i3ADm8M40KlTEChL4IUgKKXzStFJtxqodoOCxRGrE-LdhE3T3H32dpWT9ML4NmtJaqq1Zzk8KP5P-OTESWT8pBHjT_2aTtF1q_LA/s400/DSC_0323-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218313741707428082" border="0" /></a>The village:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovrMYi9NtslOW43GvfNPe_wuezX7gNWNLkPPNXljgses6Ed1ThJAznD3XlObjGwlacLQ_fW1hSx7yfPQRF2ErNHEW2korCBa6RGfo9uTwXmjLcQV8S04_7YQZS_HIov4m7Y0kOqNmt-A/s1600-h/DSC_0158-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovrMYi9NtslOW43GvfNPe_wuezX7gNWNLkPPNXljgses6Ed1ThJAznD3XlObjGwlacLQ_fW1hSx7yfPQRF2ErNHEW2korCBa6RGfo9uTwXmjLcQV8S04_7YQZS_HIov4m7Y0kOqNmt-A/s400/DSC_0158-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216845494384286802" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"></p>After a while, I decided to go walk outside, where I heard some kids playing. I watched them play soccer for a while before I was approached by a nice man named Memed, who invited me to sit with him. I introduced myself as an American student travelling around Turkey, and pretty soon some other guys came up and started talking to me. Everyone was extremely friendly, and one of them even brought a bowl of cherries for me to eat. I got out a bag of candy I had bought for kids and offered it to everyone, which seemed to make them happy. We talked a little more and then I decided to start playing soccer with the kids. They kind of mismatched the teams, with me and two others on one side and five on the other, but it was still fun. After working up a sweat, I stopped playing and then started taking pictures of the kids, which they seemed to like.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"><!--[endif]--><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfbmcybpirHuYyRaIIOin5amo1RWBhqNvU9T5Rdq0_a5BJdu1ilX3LbbT_iPO6d-TJpvs6J9A6lMlVReLptSwICqvpDqKfnooJCZZx9clSF5UZe2Jqu3Ts2xaqjXelq7rKcJEWECVZ_U/s1600-h/DSC_0156-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVfbmcybpirHuYyRaIIOin5amo1RWBhqNvU9T5Rdq0_a5BJdu1ilX3LbbT_iPO6d-TJpvs6J9A6lMlVReLptSwICqvpDqKfnooJCZZx9clSF5UZe2Jqu3Ts2xaqjXelq7rKcJEWECVZ_U/s400/DSC_0156-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216839107232628370" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMwBcBisT7JBiht3MnkxBzJJrlJpe1PBHGn6TReADcQtmf0z48r7t5s9IHhH-lIUwu_xXHFodSA3D8xi4xG8ddccosBSEPWq8TPL6f5v37UdR10Cp18qlWeqNIDuXrRKrx50MlnVjiraQ/s1600-h/DSC_0166-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMwBcBisT7JBiht3MnkxBzJJrlJpe1PBHGn6TReADcQtmf0z48r7t5s9IHhH-lIUwu_xXHFodSA3D8xi4xG8ddccosBSEPWq8TPL6f5v37UdR10Cp18qlWeqNIDuXrRKrx50MlnVjiraQ/s400/DSC_0166-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216839367446369986" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;">After that, I was told to come to dinner. I ate with Bekis a somewhat awkward meal consisting of potato soup, spicy pilav, salad, yogurt, ayran, watermelon, and something that seemed to be a mix of eggplant and lamb’s stomach. I didn’t enjoy that last one so much. After dinner, I was led by Bekis to the house where the rest of the Americans had assembled, and we each discussed our experiences thus far while drinking tea. The people in the other houses (they had all come there too) seemed to be very nice, and from what I heard, everyone was having a good time. I came back with Bekis at around midnight and saw that they prepared a bed for me in one of the rooms. I said my iyi geceler (good night) and headed to bed.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in; font-style: italic;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnLPAx1qmypq-T-0-bBIeNfbi0Loda696VsMQdbedomisyNZqIvcSf-kgV_yz13tnlUdFH4ikoA6QpgA2aegQ3N_UxPgUs03LYHs9WBlpZwMsFS_5qJFnfNpIUJ7oBlhL7Ki5RZvN-R4/s1600-h/DSC_0173-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnLPAx1qmypq-T-0-bBIeNfbi0Loda696VsMQdbedomisyNZqIvcSf-kgV_yz13tnlUdFH4ikoA6QpgA2aegQ3N_UxPgUs03LYHs9WBlpZwMsFS_5qJFnfNpIUJ7oBlhL7Ki5RZvN-R4/s400/DSC_0173-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216837973115086242" border="0" /></a></p>The second day, I woke up at around 8 and ate breakfast with Bekir again. Muammer called me at the house number and I walked up with Bekir to the original place where all the carpets were laid out. There I met up with Kelly, Zoe, William and Prof Shields and a group of Turks. They ate breakfast while took pictures and played with one of the cutest toddlers in the world:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FKff6dWTGIL6a4zDJTYCSKuPni7Cuk6h3qsHHUyIn2rWPdcYcO1SYjaMOHW4O4ZgT9RXHlXTlOoo5swjTFekbdS6fEn6qXU0QkG8ikBxTqenctefTSjbyNAFtmIep4yUMiwHC3PqKvs/s1600-h/DSC_0214-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FKff6dWTGIL6a4zDJTYCSKuPni7Cuk6h3qsHHUyIn2rWPdcYcO1SYjaMOHW4O4ZgT9RXHlXTlOoo5swjTFekbdS6fEn6qXU0QkG8ikBxTqenctefTSjbyNAFtmIep4yUMiwHC3PqKvs/s400/DSC_0214-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216838521888681442" border="0" /></a>The and William sharing a moment:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVud9_zHxMs3JB1ioM-osimxWjQi330P8r5cxXTQPEPvsbEjuwga5bxSAgXTXhF0iH9j7WASETb9X3qgy3Nx9oSed0BFd2-r6keOmfb-Lzkc0OZJjLeW4CzglsV_MjvzZDdT2-MAmjb18/s1600-h/DSC_0206-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVud9_zHxMs3JB1ioM-osimxWjQi330P8r5cxXTQPEPvsbEjuwga5bxSAgXTXhF0iH9j7WASETb9X3qgy3Nx9oSed0BFd2-r6keOmfb-Lzkc0OZJjLeW4CzglsV_MjvzZDdT2-MAmjb18/s400/DSC_0206-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216842098783138450" border="0" /></a><br />After that, Muanmer took Zoe, Kelly and I to a farm to pick cherries with one of the guys they had eaten breakfast with. We drove to the orchard and started picking some delicious looking cherries. The first few buckets we picked were "male cherries", which are yellow and help pollinate the other cherries. We also picked a few buckets of red Kiraz cherries. They were all delicious. I asked Muammer if they used pesticides on the cherries and he said that they did but used them infrequently because the climate so conducive to good growing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AOaRtw2izOEKq65TOPALzArSQm795TyaI_6Y6YeVhEWg23EuPY_b3Fuk6RR6el8Dk0iG7gGGm80mlPxSASqNP_SRRwi9VVDE5vWen0n-PDpGKbKjBP961T4OE71VSK_7mfNBtxNbmtc/s1600-h/DSC_0240-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AOaRtw2izOEKq65TOPALzArSQm795TyaI_6Y6YeVhEWg23EuPY_b3Fuk6RR6el8Dk0iG7gGGm80mlPxSASqNP_SRRwi9VVDE5vWen0n-PDpGKbKjBP961T4OE71VSK_7mfNBtxNbmtc/s400/DSC_0240-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216843260076179218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA736CBCB1SyIt619brsMoOSyKWdPwX_mRRlzKq8ulhFrzLe0wel2E_xTkkIpR6VIBG09x9rnuiqDknIxzI4H6hfqjZ6a4SrS2LMBRmfsbSp1B8QpRUsAgeRAwdDh_9p_VEVOLxcgNNE8/s1600-h/DSC_0252-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA736CBCB1SyIt619brsMoOSyKWdPwX_mRRlzKq8ulhFrzLe0wel2E_xTkkIpR6VIBG09x9rnuiqDknIxzI4H6hfqjZ6a4SrS2LMBRmfsbSp1B8QpRUsAgeRAwdDh_9p_VEVOLxcgNNE8/s400/DSC_0252-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216843431982306066" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-wk9EwzqhSMxmE0k6VeoJnu8G0LXTJNsWP4ARhBJfbuuJx63Nn_IlCrTA5I68hWod2tdknVkHQpEluKJnoR8os3HhKkd8_qEHTXui0_5KlUgm-a3dvDQVzswSXt0lm8DR4Vwibm-VwI/s1600-h/DSC_0284-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-wk9EwzqhSMxmE0k6VeoJnu8G0LXTJNsWP4ARhBJfbuuJx63Nn_IlCrTA5I68hWod2tdknVkHQpEluKJnoR8os3HhKkd8_qEHTXui0_5KlUgm-a3dvDQVzswSXt0lm8DR4Vwibm-VwI/s400/DSC_0284-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216843639310725650" border="0" /></a><br />View from the cherry orchard:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQL-Gk4GlYyjEmpx6VTyVy-vOCKOmRe6wBwM3-GSsHq1XeTmTPbrq6UO-fJXVJMUBf-PBjBCwpmORiCLDNBSAuW7ESLGEzzLkXBq57WLSWhIx-fBnBUvDYpeyJCwWcwHWIkX5VAWD-dI/s1600-h/DSC_0270-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEQL-Gk4GlYyjEmpx6VTyVy-vOCKOmRe6wBwM3-GSsHq1XeTmTPbrq6UO-fJXVJMUBf-PBjBCwpmORiCLDNBSAuW7ESLGEzzLkXBq57WLSWhIx-fBnBUvDYpeyJCwWcwHWIkX5VAWD-dI/s400/DSC_0270-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216844099916505122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the cherries, we went to eat lunch and afterwards were taken down into the big valley we'd seen the day before to go swimming at another waterfall. It was beautiful:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9V4u-c3Jo9sSRaWLJ0xYjIclv0XOKFDN6u_D1DdCDTRMSGzV3MltpEbGNYi3dFXiqO2ntbSLdIjffy5kc2ycPNDZJLPNDcJLy0onBdbJLwhrNVu_EHCkBQW80HMfSaRDPMHRnqhTi-fQ/s1600-h/DSC_0302-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9V4u-c3Jo9sSRaWLJ0xYjIclv0XOKFDN6u_D1DdCDTRMSGzV3MltpEbGNYi3dFXiqO2ntbSLdIjffy5kc2ycPNDZJLPNDcJLy0onBdbJLwhrNVu_EHCkBQW80HMfSaRDPMHRnqhTi-fQ/s400/DSC_0302-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216844851345515970" border="0" /></a><br />We walked and hiked around the waterfall in our bathing suits and even went behind the waterfall into a cave. The current was really strong, so we couldn't really swim like we had in Egirdir, but we still had fun. We ate peaches that some of the other girls had picked and Muammer cut a watermelon for us.<br /><br />After a while, we decided to head back. I had a quiet dinner with Bekir, then headed to Kevin's house and drank tea with his family. They were all very nice, and their son Mustafa Kemal (named after THE Mustafa Kemal) was very cute. I watched a Turkish version of Deal or No Deal, and then headed to the girls' place and stayed there for a while. After that, it was back to Bekir's house - except when I got there, they were not there. I momentarily panicked as I tried opening the door but was rescued by Kevin and his host, who had come to get me to tell me that Bekir was still at their place. The Turks all thought it was very funny.<br /><br />We left the next morning, and Bekir was nice enough to get me a couple of bottles of soda water for the trip. Overall, it was definitely an experience that I won't forget, and it gave me a lot of insight about the way people actually live out in the small vilalges that most tourists don't even notice.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-23300874065879103852008-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:42:56.640-08:00Day 7-8: KonyaHey all. So I'm in Cappadocia, as indicated by the map. Unfortunately, spotty internet and a lack of time have prevented me from updating my trip. Here's the trip so far:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPWvo3WmAx7Qn-rjSl4h1jYvonnAIRlCsMDGN_Qg6m6-LS9nEX_n0N-D-kRYsHRIz5UZs86_jbTm1thz3mxvp-Mv_sLblhUYWym6PDlv4qbvppGjNK8aM8TGs_RS3_ZB_GZwJd9ChnJE/s1600-h/roadtrip+copy+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAPWvo3WmAx7Qn-rjSl4h1jYvonnAIRlCsMDGN_Qg6m6-LS9nEX_n0N-D-kRYsHRIz5UZs86_jbTm1thz3mxvp-Mv_sLblhUYWym6PDlv4qbvppGjNK8aM8TGs_RS3_ZB_GZwJd9ChnJE/s400/roadtrip+copy+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216266916125520354" border="0" /></a>And now<br /><br />We arrived in Konya after catching the Fez travel bus in Egirdir and rode it for three hours (that seems to be the standard amount of time for getting from place to place here). Konya is a very conservative city of about 2 million in south-central Turkey.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvxXvhFN-4quZJPyoo1_2O4TXBpaA25jCNl-blh5WvrjVz5CUB80iDCmslcH2JYXqjAiCoLWftTavS9tx-ipTcHo3ckUX5Vb6QwLbdTqBZYhWWcwLu4RzXIGUPstbGvn94qqQqA7m8q8/s1600-h/DSC_0036-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvxXvhFN-4quZJPyoo1_2O4TXBpaA25jCNl-blh5WvrjVz5CUB80iDCmslcH2JYXqjAiCoLWftTavS9tx-ipTcHo3ckUX5Vb6QwLbdTqBZYhWWcwLu4RzXIGUPstbGvn94qqQqA7m8q8/s400/DSC_0036-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216283727765668210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It really doesn't have much going for it other than it was an important center for the Seljuk Turks during the 12th century and, most importantly, it was the home to Mevlana Celaddin Rumi, founder of the Sufis, a branch of Islam that preaches acceptance of all in the quest for a connection between one's self and the divine. Here's a quote by him:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><span style=";font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:85%;" >Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.</span></span></span><br />Sufis are most famous for a way of praying in which they spin around in circles to chanting and music in order to connect with God. People who do it are called the whirling dervishes. Under Turkish law, all religious groups are banned, so the Sufis are technically illegal. However, the government mostly turns a blind eye towards their activities, and the whirling dervishes even perform as a "folkloric" act. We went to one show one of the nights:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG4dXlMFgsOBeOHblhOdDLEJO85BxtKeX2Ue3DuoN3n8Svo7vH9DiU0YyZQhE519P4eaO9127JFGmc1DXiK0DGXMJgGfN-65XFT-g0aYW_YP60WXU7SbadDaG_NepgIKacm28qKr3QMM/s1600-h/DSC_0330-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG4dXlMFgsOBeOHblhOdDLEJO85BxtKeX2Ue3DuoN3n8Svo7vH9DiU0YyZQhE519P4eaO9127JFGmc1DXiK0DGXMJgGfN-65XFT-g0aYW_YP60WXU7SbadDaG_NepgIKacm28qKr3QMM/s400/DSC_0330-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216283387021787186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We also made it to the tomb of Mevlana, which is the second most visited museum in Turkey after Topkapi palace:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcD_P080CjK6BcZ5ZUrGr1dijzFBZaKBrgHbc3uiSi4jg0QbCc2yDxprTzre4Rp4Ta_wdZU-tvEIyP3BVnbmQe0Us4RLxxfQo7NmExqXYDrdGrkUERmh_hPMw0sFGS78Ti5dj0Glav1Q/s1600-h/DSC_0051-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcD_P080CjK6BcZ5ZUrGr1dijzFBZaKBrgHbc3uiSi4jg0QbCc2yDxprTzre4Rp4Ta_wdZU-tvEIyP3BVnbmQe0Us4RLxxfQo7NmExqXYDrdGrkUERmh_hPMw0sFGS78Ti5dj0Glav1Q/s400/DSC_0051-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216284386520838034" border="0" /></a>The last highlight of my time in Konya was my experience buying a carpet. Ever since I visited Hasan's shop in Istanbul I'd looked into buying a rug, and with the encouragement of my mom I decided to go for it in Konya, the heart of the carpet making area in central Turkey. I decided to shop at Mehmet and Muanmer's carpet shop - they had been helping us and giving us tours the whole time we'd been in Konya and had been very friendly with us (and, luckily, gave me a wholesale price discount). The process goes like this - I tell the seller that I want to buy a carpet, and he starts by sorting through what kind of carpet I was looking for - a kilim, which is made of wool, a rug, which is more traditional, and several other sorts. Then the seller tries to figure out how much I want to spend. Once the basics have been figured out, the seller starts laying out carpet after carpet on the floor. I then go through and choose ones that I like, eventually narrowing it down to one. Meanwhile, the seller keeps a steady supply of tea, water and even food. When the buyer finally decides to buy a carpet, the buyer and seller negotiate a price. Overall, it took me about 2 hours to figure out what I wanted and how much it would cost, but I finally picked out a great kilim that I really like. A victory picture with Muanmer after picking out the rug:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOS4fZSlMKkkJDpXCVhvk5vA26Nt7xbszpIGmbWep25_2yI6DvvkZkvwFPwJtDWNYdxX-kPZBYjvmQRj641-Gz9kvRbKW0Jju4lNybGdMbEH_bn3Xkq9MrGGKjuNnWc7hFqdnO06OXwA/s1600-h/DSC_0072-8.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOS4fZSlMKkkJDpXCVhvk5vA26Nt7xbszpIGmbWep25_2yI6DvvkZkvwFPwJtDWNYdxX-kPZBYjvmQRj641-Gz9kvRbKW0Jju4lNybGdMbEH_bn3Xkq9MrGGKjuNnWc7hFqdnO06OXwA/s400/DSC_0072-8.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5216284969757398626" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-15196456973352675992008-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:42:57.760-08:00Day 6: Egirdir<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZAnZdk4EsR1NnoZU8Cu2PRSgRpThPOHXOKxixU_YCBloO9ScQtH6J8ZoJK9frzUaHCK0kcScOEKRcThTbeNJq8YutkMhLleAN9hURzDmRUsNWV7fvkNIvQSko-WFt-Pf2JfRK8G7KUs/s1600-h/roadtrip+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZAnZdk4EsR1NnoZU8Cu2PRSgRpThPOHXOKxixU_YCBloO9ScQtH6J8ZoJK9frzUaHCK0kcScOEKRcThTbeNJq8YutkMhLleAN9hURzDmRUsNWV7fvkNIvQSko-WFt-Pf2JfRK8G7KUs/s400/roadtrip+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214823326858978754" border="0" /></a><br />After leaving Pamukkale, we got on a big tour bus that took us three hours to Egirdir (pronounced Eyirdir), a small town on the shores of Lake Egirdir. Egirdir was not very exciting in and of itself - the town was tiny, and proved especially disappointing when we tried looking around for places to watch the Turkey-Croatia game only to find no good places. While in the town, we did visit an old medrese next to a mosque built in the thirteenth century. We also got to climb around some old Seljuk ruins and stand on top of an old castle tower - for some reason, the town thought it'd be nice to put their name on top of it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfFzEpZKBPfy_8E3vCaNNQ7bJW63S9UVtDv465qZOVXQerMzW-NegsfaugQqFAeFVNQeivdWuWMwYnHNmdXHOtYHxUp7pVL4HVJxHASY07KyNcikTE17AY66bheTg1kOBslAgTVTsVGc/s1600-h/DSC_0018-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfFzEpZKBPfy_8E3vCaNNQ7bJW63S9UVtDv465qZOVXQerMzW-NegsfaugQqFAeFVNQeivdWuWMwYnHNmdXHOtYHxUp7pVL4HVJxHASY07KyNcikTE17AY66bheTg1kOBslAgTVTsVGc/s400/DSC_0018-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214816464383930834" border="0" /></a><br />The town and the lake:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHxAY9a2iHQ08baiVKlh3JUzB0NPkFyaGkHeYOM9Oe5xIl1Qg9RNdmkvr2JK2iNFoyrTO7F6fXgFebVrsur0_9zvt7w112oJwYKj9EfEWYWo5e3AgIjcrW2TKpWuYdXbl00UYjP7Cy_k/s1600-h/DSC_0001-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHxAY9a2iHQ08baiVKlh3JUzB0NPkFyaGkHeYOM9Oe5xIl1Qg9RNdmkvr2JK2iNFoyrTO7F6fXgFebVrsur0_9zvt7w112oJwYKj9EfEWYWo5e3AgIjcrW2TKpWuYdXbl00UYjP7Cy_k/s400/DSC_0001-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214825356898100642" border="0" /></a><br />The biggest attraction about the town was the lake - it's the second largest lake in Turkey with more than 550 square kilometers of water - much larger than Lake Norman. After arriving, we went swimming in the clear water which felt really good. The place we stayed at was a pension - part hostel, part hotel - we stayed in the hostel part, with all ten of us in a room. It was an experience, especially since we had to share one toilet and one shower between all of us and about 15 other Australians/English/New Zealanders. Needless to say, it ended up being a lot of dashing into the shower/bathroom whenever someone came out of it.<br /><br />Egirdir in and of itself is not much of a stop, but Prof Shields and William had been to it before and had been really impressed with the Kings Highway, an ancient road used by the Persians to invade Greece and by Alexander the Great and the Greeks to invade Persia. It winds its way through a narrow canyon called Candir (Jandir) that is now a national park. It was absolutely beautiful, with huge cliffs and mountains and lots of forest with a river winding through it and the ancient road on one of the side cliffs. It really reminded me of Yosemite minus the ancient ruins and the annoying tourists.<br /><br />Here's the road at its widest:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_TvtespWqCHhdNK5-wLHBpJcpB-TLkjCMZeEfUNtsdsJ3VNI4U7dT9i4dzno2nxvk-FBjpobhn_o6jOibX906i60oLBjbPmlNWnI6F_oIzIY1JbzpG1N3IItNomU7XDCmSVWIas2TcI/s1600-h/DSC_0113-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_TvtespWqCHhdNK5-wLHBpJcpB-TLkjCMZeEfUNtsdsJ3VNI4U7dT9i4dzno2nxvk-FBjpobhn_o6jOibX906i60oLBjbPmlNWnI6F_oIzIY1JbzpG1N3IItNomU7XDCmSVWIas2TcI/s400/DSC_0113-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214816731284527634" border="0" /></a><br />Some Greek markers along the road:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-5Ve7iU6MsXBPp-hAtd3eH1WWlXkUrDorUQygkD3MGVA3BSmUqHGqPeaRJSDq_yXIRfWGLN4zZMXT0PfDuiqebnkAHMPgWneWQF349Yyis3FFYmiZIGVaKPJZuviMg8xbprxUf8G-sg/s1600-h/DSC_0110-6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-5Ve7iU6MsXBPp-hAtd3eH1WWlXkUrDorUQygkD3MGVA3BSmUqHGqPeaRJSDq_yXIRfWGLN4zZMXT0PfDuiqebnkAHMPgWneWQF349Yyis3FFYmiZIGVaKPJZuviMg8xbprxUf8G-sg/s400/DSC_0110-6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214824633037477378" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We hiked along the ancient road (and then kept going after that road seemed to have disappeared) and saw a really blue pool of water beside a nice waterfall a ways down the cliff. We decided to stop there, and Kristina and I scouted a way to get down to it.<br /><br />The water was freezing, and we had to jump in a few times to get used to it. With all the big rocks around, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to jump off one. Edward did it first, jumping off a rock about 15 feet high (we scouted the depth of the pool - none of us could reach the bottom diving, so it was obviously very deep). We all tried doing it - here's me in my first attempt:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BEut7bRFUy_-aaFaZnSkNSGTgKyfx6sBnjAXUfIozGFhg3sgtT46P8E9A2oDduD7xFk3X1bJBa86RQWXCr05hYjrCxct8vRzpVhR3pRaerivsb9c9GZP5l60eduPsLObzEx8YUt_spo/s1600-h/DSC_0194-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BEut7bRFUy_-aaFaZnSkNSGTgKyfx6sBnjAXUfIozGFhg3sgtT46P8E9A2oDduD7xFk3X1bJBa86RQWXCr05hYjrCxct8vRzpVhR3pRaerivsb9c9GZP5l60eduPsLObzEx8YUt_spo/s400/DSC_0194-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214816197162186642" border="0" /></a>After the first one, the only logical place to go was up, so up we went. Edward was the first to jump off of the second cliff, a good 35 feet above the water. After Kristina, Zoe and Kevin went, I decided to gather my courage and give it a shot. I was halfway up when my new fear of heights decided to kick in - once I got to the top, I started freaking out. Kristina, who had come up with me, had to talk me into doing it for five minutes while everyone below watched. Here's me freaking with Kristina trying to convince me to do it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmrpcpSvyV62p4LgnmLIWmAd5_9lrFhz5H5D6b7wgakO-wvtkYVqlzYK0yEfDK5gGLPHG-QmrXtMKEQRhGqFkVcty08afIBWky-Hz1OCWztmFDjXIyWJG5TYwaWR_5y5piOgy42v138/s1600-h/DSC_0224-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmrpcpSvyV62p4LgnmLIWmAd5_9lrFhz5H5D6b7wgakO-wvtkYVqlzYK0yEfDK5gGLPHG-QmrXtMKEQRhGqFkVcty08afIBWky-Hz1OCWztmFDjXIyWJG5TYwaWR_5y5piOgy42v138/s400/DSC_0224-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214819801930637858" border="0" /></a><br />After 5 minutes, I finally decided to man up and do it. So I jumped:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkg0rqIilzOb_c3i5WVM9LPG_Pjz93i1-SKNSw7GeXP4xdfcBd9TExD6OtUYyjflRG8O1Sm4G-vDvPkdTjSvNBTF8nP7itRABz34caE9RE3Pm1eQMDk2-tWXazzJO0AA7KXFpoXlAyPs/s1600-h/DSC_0231-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkg0rqIilzOb_c3i5WVM9LPG_Pjz93i1-SKNSw7GeXP4xdfcBd9TExD6OtUYyjflRG8O1Sm4G-vDvPkdTjSvNBTF8nP7itRABz34caE9RE3Pm1eQMDk2-tWXazzJO0AA7KXFpoXlAyPs/s400/DSC_0231-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214817517982379618" border="0" /></a>The feeling was absolutely exhilarating. I didn't feel any fear at all - just adrenaline and excitement and fun going through me. I'm glad I did it.<br /><br />After swimming around some more, we gathered around Prof Shields and we all talked about tourism in Turkey - how it was that we were the only people in this beautiful park, and how Turkey markets itself towards foreigners and how that compares to the way it shows itself to its own citizens.<br /><br />We left the canyon after that and, after getting lost for a bit when our driver went the wrong way, headed back to our rooms. We ate a nice meal with the profs and then headed out to find a bar to watch the soccer game at with 45 minutes to go. We walked all along the town and asked everywhere, but there seemed to be nowhere to go. Finally, 15 minutes after kickoff, we decided to go back to the pension to watch it. We watched it with 2 Turks and entirely too many elderly British and Australian people (not the ratio we wanted, obviously), but it was still exciting to watch Turkey come back from a 1-0 deficit 1 minute after the game was supposed to have ended. After penalties, I ran outside to celebrate with Kelly and Yekta. There was a procession of about 40 cars going by honking their horns and hanging out their window and yelling and singing. Unlike Canakkale, we were the only people who were actually standing on the side of the road. We cursed ourselves for not being in Istanbul to celebrate this ridiculous victory (or any major city, for that matter), but it was still exciting to have everyone honking at us in celebration (as opposed to honking at us to avoid hitting us).<br /><br />And that was that for out stay in Egirdir - stay tuned for the next part, Konya.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-91337449133042806822008-06-21T13:32:00.001-07:002008-11-12T23:42:58.598-08:00Trip Day 4 & 5: Pamukkale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5nk060bO_NEvnNqhHULEdKL9Qc2L0C4vh1aE7drvYf8jiY909qytEaXZclIvvNMA9a6cupfVj22FiQIVVRXYuTt33nKSO1CrD6tQxRIXSltRAwAfRHc1LMENmvc2R3spWMEpXXIyk88/s1600-h/roadtrip+2+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5nk060bO_NEvnNqhHULEdKL9Qc2L0C4vh1aE7drvYf8jiY909qytEaXZclIvvNMA9a6cupfVj22FiQIVVRXYuTt33nKSO1CrD6tQxRIXSltRAwAfRHc1LMENmvc2R3spWMEpXXIyk88/s400/roadtrip+2+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214443633095810306" border="0" /></a><br /> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style="">After leaving Ephesus, our next destination was Pamukkale, the famous location of the white calcium waterfalls that is one of the most famous places in Turkey. We took a bus from Ephesus and after a mystic experience with the Turk driving the bus we got on another bus and made it to the town after two hours. The town itself wasn't very impressive - the major days of tourism came to an end a few years ago after UNESCO declared the site a World Heritage site and closed down the five 5-star hotels on top of the cliffs. Since then, some tourists come by bus, but more and more people don’t make the trip to the town.<o:p></o:p><span style=""></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><span style=""></span>We arrived at about 1:30, but because it was so hot (and because the white calcium would reflect the heat and make it even hotter - there was a forecast of 99 degrees for our area), we decided it’d be better to chill down below and then head up towards the evening. At 4 we met up with Prof. Shields and talked about the different buildings we’d seen in Ephesus and compared the different layers of identity we’d seen at Ephesus – just there, we’d seen Greek and Roman buildings contrasted with modern Turkey. At 6, we decided to head up to the cliffs.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">The cliffs of Pamukkale and the ruins around it are one of the most impressive sites any of us have seen on this trip. And fun. Here is a picture of the area (not by me)<span style=""> </span>Because Turkish authorities have mishandled the amount of tourists coming into the site, many of the cliffs that once were filled with water are now empty. Still, walking up the cliffs along a road among the white calcium which still had pools was a lot of fun. We had to take off our shoes to walk on the calcium so that we could go up to the plateau on top of the white cliffs, partly to preserve the calcium, partly so we didn’t have to get our shoes wet because water cascades all the way down.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: georgia;">Here's a picture of Yekta walking up the road through one of the pools:<br /></p><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzgsx9DsK7KtX3V0EeEdjBQc7Ud4paLeMD4ySIXabByD48L0H0O3tiJySCRGtm9RBQn7NglKNEvWJI1Y9_k6_G20_GuV04syhs2kdYgvaISboYAq10p9Du2ZfjfX_IUAQfghij9nwDvs/s1600-h/DSC_0012-7.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpzgsx9DsK7KtX3V0EeEdjBQc7Ud4paLeMD4ySIXabByD48L0H0O3tiJySCRGtm9RBQn7NglKNEvWJI1Y9_k6_G20_GuV04syhs2kdYgvaISboYAq10p9Du2ZfjfX_IUAQfghij9nwDvs/s400/DSC_0012-7.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214435954563184722" border="0" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;">We were definitely not the first people to go to Pamukkale – the first people arrived more than 2000 years ago, drawn by the white cliffs, the hot spring water, the beautiful view, and the strategic location along the King’s Highway, an ancient road used by the Persians and by Alexander. The ancient city of Hierapolis was located on the plateau adjacent to the cliffs and had a population of 100,000. The people of the city thought that the water that formed the cliffs, which was filled with calcium and carbon dioxide, had healing properties, and so built temples to the gods along the sites where the springs came out. One of the temples, the Temple of Apollo, was built on top of a cave that emitted a poison gas – people thought the area was cursed, and so only certain people who were blessed could enter it (it turned out to be sulfur, and the people who could go in had mastered the way they breathed in the cave).<o:p></o:p></p><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span> <p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Once we got to the top, we made a beeline for the pool. The pool were like the Tabacon hot springs at Arenal in Costa Rica – except that in the hot springs were Roman columns. We never got over the fact that we were swimming in warm water in an ancient building that had been flooded hundreds of years ago. Here's a picture:</span></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT866cgLvRtdrGtD7KcGQqQ6ME9MOpFXz45vdgZjC9Baq6kjwdG_fRHJ_tsREqAPCTba35T7Tqyl4dyY1Are1mER6gXAK3iVIbsivJ2XTevxfTy1DnBoaZWFuutzu6s-bM-ZISVxJxihw/s1600-h/DSC_0051-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT866cgLvRtdrGtD7KcGQqQ6ME9MOpFXz45vdgZjC9Baq6kjwdG_fRHJ_tsREqAPCTba35T7Tqyl4dyY1Are1mER6gXAK3iVIbsivJ2XTevxfTy1DnBoaZWFuutzu6s-bM-ZISVxJxihw/s400/DSC_0051-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214436937348293826" border="0" /></a></p><p face="georgia" class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family:georgia;">We swam around for a bit, then got out and went with William and Sarah to look at the ruins of Hierapolis. A look at the many ruins:<br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN8SZRzTLPSORE_umxSFXe717_ZJLsjxjMmXDxT4Qm3roinWcPjdiKe4kYnHKz29tu7pz33-cYkC719HDl_wt6q4GsMSIcvLXJBDNL0s4Q8RDPmQNEFupWcyhaxyJe9e4f_hP2U29o9U/s1600-h/DSC_0101-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN8SZRzTLPSORE_umxSFXe717_ZJLsjxjMmXDxT4Qm3roinWcPjdiKe4kYnHKz29tu7pz33-cYkC719HDl_wt6q4GsMSIcvLXJBDNL0s4Q8RDPmQNEFupWcyhaxyJe9e4f_hP2U29o9U/s400/DSC_0101-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214436942450989090" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />We made our way by the Temple of Apollo and then wound our way up to the theater. This was probably my favorite part of the whole area – the theater was set on top of a hill overlooking the plateau which in turn overlooks the entire valley.<br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5xkvrF3IGN6fpcWTcW5MV9YYkfjoChBcV89twiQsncNkGlr4H4aXUDXnTI4OD1oLzut58K6Wei33iURocH0syzmbi0dFanmnO_DMIu1xknUhE-8LlVRboM8dQ97A6cXS8BKW2qZwSx0/s1600-h/DSC_0122-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl5xkvrF3IGN6fpcWTcW5MV9YYkfjoChBcV89twiQsncNkGlr4H4aXUDXnTI4OD1oLzut58K6Wei33iURocH0syzmbi0dFanmnO_DMIu1xknUhE-8LlVRboM8dQ97A6cXS8BKW2qZwSx0/s400/DSC_0122-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214436945324634578" border="0" /></a><br />The group:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva1ynEEdl-4uZdqBiaxKowtMOkNuF3hKZ7mgtp8tCJRUdFKZoQpvqD69zZ0G33k_Uy6bAYM2Tc_QP8sfMMylo42lWWHj1JXIFFop5d_uDtS9cpUEOBs80_9YaVaIBTaY9bbTjb516Xvg/s1600-h/DSC_0124-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgva1ynEEdl-4uZdqBiaxKowtMOkNuF3hKZ7mgtp8tCJRUdFKZoQpvqD69zZ0G33k_Uy6bAYM2Tc_QP8sfMMylo42lWWHj1JXIFFop5d_uDtS9cpUEOBs80_9YaVaIBTaY9bbTjb516Xvg/s400/DSC_0124-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214656123369086226" border="0" /></a><span style="">The theatre was my favorite part. We acted like little kids and started climbing all over. I saw Zoe at end of one overhang on the other side of the theater and decided I wanted to do that. It took me a while to work past my newfound fear of heights (more a fear of heights where it is very possible that I’m going to fall off), but I finally got there. Here's the ledge I climbed on - this is a shot of Edward on it (the 40 foot drop isn't visible):<br /></span><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhdgq8WAEy6H_OKRG1gPt6YPzMyiozaivmdOrWCrZpQdc0UNqaZ6-g_9BNPJeYWvDrAuOMo9392dQ4-aBJZUCoUY6j613Splli2unTv0ml7zXvM1K8nLD63ewGhkUK6DIKpjWGwNN7-8/s1600-h/DSC_0151-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIhdgq8WAEy6H_OKRG1gPt6YPzMyiozaivmdOrWCrZpQdc0UNqaZ6-g_9BNPJeYWvDrAuOMo9392dQ4-aBJZUCoUY6j613Splli2unTv0ml7zXvM1K8nLD63ewGhkUK6DIKpjWGwNN7-8/s400/DSC_0151-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214445817809553682" border="0" /></a></p><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal">My foot standing on the ledge:</p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRC5lSCyxOAdBad6ITMuUgFweyCPepHNynJ2lxHYVsqRG8F2It6byiJnJUZ2Je1CbubVlFqIjWzB0VeM9fk-ny0YqDLudJ_UzxIDvNMBvaTQCcSfaxNV46lMfmGAp8SANYuMuZQtkW7Ck/s1600-h/DSC_0161-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRC5lSCyxOAdBad6ITMuUgFweyCPepHNynJ2lxHYVsqRG8F2It6byiJnJUZ2Je1CbubVlFqIjWzB0VeM9fk-ny0YqDLudJ_UzxIDvNMBvaTQCcSfaxNV46lMfmGAp8SANYuMuZQtkW7Ck/s400/DSC_0161-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214655625147421106" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">After that, we headed down the mountain back to our hostel, where a delicious four-course meal awaited us. It was a good day.</span><span style=""></span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-76454627476185469362008-06-20T23:08:00.000-07:002008-06-20T23:19:09.332-07:00TURKEY DOES IT AGAINTurkey pulled off another win in the Eurocup, this time in the quarterfinal of the tournament. The game went all 90 minutes and 28 minutes of overtime without a goal, then Croatia scored. Everyone thought the game was over, including the Croatians. Then Turkey scored in the 122 minute of the game - the latest goal in Eurocup history. Naturally, everyone went crazy - the game was going to penalty. The Croats looked depressed and deflated, while Turkey looked upbeat - then Croatia missed the first penalty. Turkey scored theirs, and then Croatia scored. Turkey scored their second - the score was 2-1 in a best of 5 penalty series in favor of Turkey. Croatia then went ahead and missed their next two penalties, and Turkey made theirs - the game was won, with Turkey on top. It was a ridiculous game to add to two other ridiculous wins - in the last three games, Turkey has won the game in the last 2 minutes. In total, Turkey has led an opponent all of 9 minutes out of more than 300 minutes of game time.<br /><br />Turkey plays Germany the 25th of June in the semifinal game. Kos Turkiye!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-84337367455373543782008-06-17T14:02:00.001-07:002008-11-12T23:42:59.967-08:00Day 3: EphesusToday was a crazy day. We packed in so much stuff that it's hard to believe we did it all (without complaining, too). I think everyone had a good time though, and the sights we saw were incredible.<br /><br />I started the day off early at 7 a.m. - unheard of for American students in the summer. The breakfast we got at the hostel - the A and Zed Guest House (or Australian and New Zealand Guest House) was great. We then decided to hire a bus for the day. That took us to our first stop - the ruins of Ephesus.<br /><br />Ephesus was a major ancient city with a population of approximately 250,000 people. It was a bustling trade town with access to the Aegean. Interestingly, the city where we are staying - Selcuk, was actually the original site of Ephesus. However, one of the rulers of the city decided he didn't like that it was built on a floodplain, so he built an entirely new city - what we now consider Ephesus - in a valley uphill from Selcuk. Nobody in the old town wanted to move to the new city, though, so the ruler decided to block the sewage and drainage pipes and flood the city and so convinced the people to move.<br /><br />Now, Ephesus is considered one of the best rebuilt ancient cities in the world. And it is impressive.<br /><br />We started walking through the city near the odeum where governing decisions were made. We then made our way down a street called, appropriately, the Marble Street, for all the marble that was on it. Apparently, the columns that ran along either side of the street were each 8 meters (24 feet) tall. Pretty impressive:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuzpghSuLE13HugkF6JVzom8ZFmgBpyHJkYdVKyO68RX4Sqod7oS5eZY8ExzN3bSl6nytLv-VAiHz6xZr_oE8UJL0HTihyF_eO1PxJxGqaOpt_2UZkrNX2idpPZyAxdNsUoaQ4TbB8p8/s1600-h/DSC_0012-6.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXuzpghSuLE13HugkF6JVzom8ZFmgBpyHJkYdVKyO68RX4Sqod7oS5eZY8ExzN3bSl6nytLv-VAiHz6xZr_oE8UJL0HTihyF_eO1PxJxGqaOpt_2UZkrNX2idpPZyAxdNsUoaQ4TbB8p8/s400/DSC_0012-6.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212964739264542882" border="0" /></a><br />The Marble Street winds its way down to the Library of Celsus. Though the library was not very big in and of itself, the building was impressive:<br /><br /><br />From the Library of Celsus, the Marble Street makes its way past houses. On the the side of the road there is a marble slab with a foot on it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM2V-qRvFDFJ-aa2_lz2RmuPRolShEdrFuZwAUZH_9OwJtJPpU6sw1KgVCG36dDDqmSxClNQIEwk4vlTk0Brfritbpmn7Z-eElSjw3g4CmommM4f2nMKri_J-NBKwKbBJSXyFnsyLkCo/s1600-h/DSC_0035-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM2V-qRvFDFJ-aa2_lz2RmuPRolShEdrFuZwAUZH_9OwJtJPpU6sw1KgVCG36dDDqmSxClNQIEwk4vlTk0Brfritbpmn7Z-eElSjw3g4CmommM4f2nMKri_J-NBKwKbBJSXyFnsyLkCo/s400/DSC_0035-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212966885338550322" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULpNzbtBk8tVbzojRX6mYve7Wu5MliiJInlihllfZwHrGAS9acWGmV0eBWLJjayVpiW4EG34YWQzGs3L_VFO16FYAIRHdkDVPwI7-38zeWafzS8oFF2SBMQc6cXid2PECJ97FK8K59_Y/s1600-h/DSC_0047-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULpNzbtBk8tVbzojRX6mYve7Wu5MliiJInlihllfZwHrGAS9acWGmV0eBWLJjayVpiW4EG34YWQzGs3L_VFO16FYAIRHdkDVPwI7-38zeWafzS8oFF2SBMQc6cXid2PECJ97FK8K59_Y/s400/DSC_0047-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212966894880827026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zkHSL4vH7yH5X2PkU3DjiZ9xl4SFN0dRAlNZUmtUgBdV20T1U_5vIvUDvbzDbFrvh8riu7_VSQtTO14CUSS2o3GyoMdECC04F6wQVGRlJeQm8tE07-u56lzkJPPP6j9mi-xz2p3ahh4/s1600-h/DSC_0037-5.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3zkHSL4vH7yH5X2PkU3DjiZ9xl4SFN0dRAlNZUmtUgBdV20T1U_5vIvUDvbzDbFrvh8riu7_VSQtTO14CUSS2o3GyoMdECC04F6wQVGRlJeQm8tE07-u56lzkJPPP6j9mi-xz2p3ahh4/s400/DSC_0037-5.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212966891265731426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The foot apparently points towards the brothel, which is conveniently located in front of the Celsus Library (really, Greeks, could you be a little more discreet?):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJRXed1Nfef8fAIkyzThS8KCJPZVFkRVfZhIfjzUvduwadlftLZOPmVc2MkqrvMGy49egumqNY5FBZW0cz0FZWs0N2vYzu6fDZn1TlmWJ7Wcvk_Mxpt7L-8ed2uuGxh11Xeb79Smml0o/s1600-h/DSC_0108-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfJRXed1Nfef8fAIkyzThS8KCJPZVFkRVfZhIfjzUvduwadlftLZOPmVc2MkqrvMGy49egumqNY5FBZW0cz0FZWs0N2vYzu6fDZn1TlmWJ7Wcvk_Mxpt7L-8ed2uuGxh11Xeb79Smml0o/s400/DSC_0108-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212966899548502610" border="0" /></a><br />After the foot, the Marble Street goes by the Grand Theatre, an impressive ampitheatre that used to seat 25,000 people - 4000 more people than the Dean Dome. The ruins today haven't been reconstructed to its full capacity yet:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cN96oT7NQPdxGAo2esxqMJccXyfIAoHgQVnqwEOI23SGehH2_M3dhU3Y2KVI8Nh88Mcx2AAnJ1nqo6qUmMDpaEAmMVqFLKP3qMxCiJELOCVH88y_oBitNxM90rzxUJwuajbqzbQoLko/s1600-h/DSC_0090-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cN96oT7NQPdxGAo2esxqMJccXyfIAoHgQVnqwEOI23SGehH2_M3dhU3Y2KVI8Nh88Mcx2AAnJ1nqo6qUmMDpaEAmMVqFLKP3qMxCiJELOCVH88y_oBitNxM90rzxUJwuajbqzbQoLko/s400/DSC_0090-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212968185852511346" border="0" /></a><br />The acoustics were incredible - William performed a monologue from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar on the floor and we could hear him near the top row of seats - here's me from where we sat to listen:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNwQcY8O9SWWM3zSkn9uqcpkfnJSHVqecug1_MO2SiWSFwMPgDosDtX6E9b5gMpXK0IzawXVssdZEslNVGhyrdMMcu2u9L7L4PBKkl-oaJhTUvIgEjo2XV1OKY6qeKxxSRoEawraHW1Q/s1600-h/DSC_0082-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNwQcY8O9SWWM3zSkn9uqcpkfnJSHVqecug1_MO2SiWSFwMPgDosDtX6E9b5gMpXK0IzawXVssdZEslNVGhyrdMMcu2u9L7L4PBKkl-oaJhTUvIgEjo2XV1OKY6qeKxxSRoEawraHW1Q/s400/DSC_0082-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212968612604167570" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It was, needless to say, very impressive. If you look at this last picture, you can see a white road going off perpendicular to the theater. That was the famous Arcadian Way, along which shops and salesmen did business. That road ended where the sea began - the city of Ephesus was a port, after all. But what doomed the city was the silting of its harbor, similar to what happened with Troy and other cities in the Aegean. The city is now 7 kilometers from the ocean, showing how much the geography of the region has changed.<br /><br /><br />But that was just the start of the day. After the ruins, we went to the place where the Virgin Mary reputedly died. According to the history guides, St John was entrusted with Mary's care after Jesus was crucified. Since he was in charge of spreading the word in Asia Minor, he brought Mary with him, and she settled in the hills above Ephesus, then the major city I described earlier. According to different sources, Mary died in a house in those mountains.<br /><br />In the 19th century, a blind German nun who had never been out of Germany reportedly had a vision that she had seen the resting place of the Virgin Mary. Several expeditions set out, using her directions, and supposedly found the place right where she said it was. Now, it attracts a lot of tourists, Christian and Muslim pilgrims and Catholics from commoners to Popes John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI. The house itself is very unassuming:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpY7VOgdpKhasfQWumLSUJAzIGCIOhd4r5qE_fTP-VnrujNZFRTLDvpqPh6APgJnU-3PwhnSnDqbcu4F_jNN_s8QC0IXW3e8MCnAJfYg_Af-uFn2PKF24aaUt96WKwfOTFYWakYjE2WE/s1600-h/DSC_0119-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpY7VOgdpKhasfQWumLSUJAzIGCIOhd4r5qE_fTP-VnrujNZFRTLDvpqPh6APgJnU-3PwhnSnDqbcu4F_jNN_s8QC0IXW3e8MCnAJfYg_Af-uFn2PKF24aaUt96WKwfOTFYWakYjE2WE/s400/DSC_0119-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212970339256360450" border="0" /></a><br />But it was interesting to see it regardless.<br /><br />After that, we went to an archeology museum for about 45 minutes, then we were taken out to dinner by Mrs. Gurel, Emily's family's friends from Izmir. Mrs Gurel was very kind and took us to a school of nomads who were being taught how to make rugs. We ate a very good lunch and then headed out to the beach.<br /><br />The beach was fabulous - we have all been craving going swimming since we got to Turkey, and the beach we went to was perfect. The water was warm - it is the Aegean, after all - the sand was warm, the sun was hot (but not too hot), there weren't too many people - over all, it was great. We stayed for a couple hours then went back to the hostel and changed. Pictures up from that soon!<br /><br />Thirty minutes later, we all piled back into our minibus to go to Sirince, a small Greek town in the mountains above Selcuk. The town was very beautiful and picturesque - all the buildings were painted white, the streets were cobblestone, and it was set in a olive and grape growing area. We walked around for a good while, then headed to dinner. The town reminded me a lot of Napa Valley - it is a wine area, after all - and the coffee hills of Costa Rica. Here are some pictures:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12RC3y-cQaK9NulG2YJypg004o40-97bVVp31oWKqA7cRMUKD1Xv3-Qsa5VA8o473yI9xgThg6Uho8X5m5NB51TX8eR8XNlL7vKR3CyWjZ3EHoLZYDowYII_7pWKBMXzxvx-MmzNc01M/s1600-h/DSC_0207-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi12RC3y-cQaK9NulG2YJypg004o40-97bVVp31oWKqA7cRMUKD1Xv3-Qsa5VA8o473yI9xgThg6Uho8X5m5NB51TX8eR8XNlL7vKR3CyWjZ3EHoLZYDowYII_7pWKBMXzxvx-MmzNc01M/s400/DSC_0207-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212973492362883538" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJLXZxLzfIKzLH8Zi-L47sKJ1gE3IRwq7TkQi9IeBQVSM-jQ5VULxOCWT0mXUdOQc-0CdBh8WxY72Q669tUKIJtAH7rEk41FbmB4l23QU2K1QaQ_FAWQT7wuLIggtdqrg6FnDPyfVOj0/s1600-h/DSC_0172-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJLXZxLzfIKzLH8Zi-L47sKJ1gE3IRwq7TkQi9IeBQVSM-jQ5VULxOCWT0mXUdOQc-0CdBh8WxY72Q669tUKIJtAH7rEk41FbmB4l23QU2K1QaQ_FAWQT7wuLIggtdqrg6FnDPyfVOj0/s400/DSC_0172-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212973523115410370" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW0BcF7EQXVDW8Rkp9kD0opjx0-R477gWoTQYquE0lLcDswyKXS9j_-jqZ0k_TsZIHqVMLti_0spcWYUbmco6jBqVPXDvIL-7Bly1JsrqzAGDCygkuYKXpGjuU1u7IGZ20-bebf3V1rs/s1600-h/DSC_0202-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW0BcF7EQXVDW8Rkp9kD0opjx0-R477gWoTQYquE0lLcDswyKXS9j_-jqZ0k_TsZIHqVMLti_0spcWYUbmco6jBqVPXDvIL-7Bly1JsrqzAGDCygkuYKXpGjuU1u7IGZ20-bebf3V1rs/s400/DSC_0202-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212973514516243938" border="0" /></a><br />Tomorrow we leave entirely too early for Pamukkale, where the Calcium baths are. Should be fun. Anyway, I'll try to keep posting regularly. Peace!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-82315488253467605112008-06-16T12:39:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:01.129-08:00Road Trip: Days 1 and 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlFSkBVW_EQMAwJUPHpTq148iL8Al7JYogxpB9pW9dfd4ty_FF_ScV5fKV__OOCk24IAVNV0dFRnqseTjE6pRFRPDdwaMM-M4NORooxMpCm3ltkbFGU1h4Ns3iQm2Wsk85JSdHGlU5GY/s1600-h/roadtrip+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJlFSkBVW_EQMAwJUPHpTq148iL8Al7JYogxpB9pW9dfd4ty_FF_ScV5fKV__OOCk24IAVNV0dFRnqseTjE6pRFRPDdwaMM-M4NORooxMpCm3ltkbFGU1h4Ns3iQm2Wsk85JSdHGlU5GY/s400/roadtrip+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212576829138174226" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Left on the two week trip yesterday morning. After a few hours of sitting on a very uncomfortable bus, we stopped by the site of the Battle of the Gallipoli, one of the most important battles of World War I. The site of the battle as you can see from the map is strategically important - whoever controlled the peninsula would supposedly control the Dardanelles Straight. If the allies could win the battle and take the Dardanelles, Istanbul would be quick to fall and Russia could be provided more supplies for the Eastern Front.<br /><br />Interestingly, the Battle of Gallipoli positioned two forces - the Turks and the Australians and New Zealand Army Corp (known as ANZAC) that had never had any animosity. But the troops engaged in battle for nine months until the Allies were forced to retreat following their defeat by one Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk (see the long blog post about him below).<br /><br /><br /><br />Both sides took a combined casualty list of 500,000 men, of whom maybe 150,000 died, primarily on the Ottoman side. Here's a picture of a ANZAC cemetary. The beach behind it was used as the landing spot for the force - they had to climb those cliffs under gunfire to try to push back the Turks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlYm0s2DpBKsZBvyhyddndJgsRi3AD9TXSCe09R7PnxgiVIfbmSp5boElclyl7Yb1MQ7EndZVXQMI72KTDhl1ZoSxz9590fvgqUOkq9b6lRIKW6m7I5zQCcT7uRU8RwUiDsSsHmOmfzE/s1600-h/DSC_0555.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlYm0s2DpBKsZBvyhyddndJgsRi3AD9TXSCe09R7PnxgiVIfbmSp5boElclyl7Yb1MQ7EndZVXQMI72KTDhl1ZoSxz9590fvgqUOkq9b6lRIKW6m7I5zQCcT7uRU8RwUiDsSsHmOmfzE/s400/DSC_0555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212570350925083058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3159F_kGj_4sh5TWerpv1EPV57ZHn5AxKEpMl44wSbtR43IwwYUpcrX2sQD254zCwoGVz-fCFy-3uAltzcSMlHvdOcEF-Gxqsmg3CaMB8S223zCuTxMX43Qj2fQF9g4MZ152dgYYB0pA/s1600-h/DSC_0575.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3159F_kGj_4sh5TWerpv1EPV57ZHn5AxKEpMl44wSbtR43IwwYUpcrX2sQD254zCwoGVz-fCFy-3uAltzcSMlHvdOcEF-Gxqsmg3CaMB8S223zCuTxMX43Qj2fQF9g4MZ152dgYYB0pA/s400/DSC_0575.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212581145612286722" border="0" /></a><br />Nevertheless, after nine months of fighting, the Turks and the ANZACs developed a sense of friendship and respect that they have to this day. Here are some moving words provided by Ataturk - one of the main Ottoman generals during the battle, 20 years after the battle finished:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;" >Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives.. you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours.. You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."<br /></span><div style="text-align: right;">-Mustafa Kemal Ataturk<br /></div><br />Clayton brought up an interesting conversation with some of the Australians in our group who said that Gallipoli is as much of a big deal to them as it is to the Turks who won. It was the Australian and New Zealanders first war experience, and it did much to form their national identity.<br /><br />We also got a chance to dip our feet in the Aegean Sea for the first time - it felt good:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6espQdHDeMsTIaUrvbmjfrQqRbE39rvqk55hL3xiFlEbIv29c_UDpoMQnfPMKpPZzyV_a9Rv99MPzDJlaHUcE1WlusU8FbWuJkI8GXYf28u4cT01S7-VU90deJpZ1yW26Dv1pEIage0/s1600-h/DSC_0550.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6espQdHDeMsTIaUrvbmjfrQqRbE39rvqk55hL3xiFlEbIv29c_UDpoMQnfPMKpPZzyV_a9Rv99MPzDJlaHUcE1WlusU8FbWuJkI8GXYf28u4cT01S7-VU90deJpZ1yW26Dv1pEIage0/s400/DSC_0550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212581169705192850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After Gallipoli we crossed the Dardanelles Straight to Cannakale, where we spent the night. We went to a nice restaurant then headed to a sports bar, where we saw Turkey upset the Czech Republic 3-2 in the last 15 minutes of the game. It was incredible - wait to see a blog post about it soon.<br /><br />Today we got on the bus and headed to the legendary ruins of Troy. We had seen the wooden horse from the movie (which was actually made of fiber glass), and saw the other one that Turkey recreated. The ruins weren't impressive in and of themselves, but just imagining the Trojan war from 3000 years ago in which, according to Homer, 1000 ships and 100,000 men attacked the city because Paris, son of Priam and brother of Hector, had taken Menelaus' wife Helen with him back to Troy. Here's a picture of Zoe climbing the wall of Troy VI, the Troy of Homer's epic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiocqbSuFA4OLHUx47wlC4QmANDcnzG-4FvScP6I7Pphd-P9uJsavMqaRiL6ZtNMWfAi92_X95XQs4X4uS-DNdjIu3osTh-fSzDoCQrhBGpv8MKw9smpH6jQ_Cb4ZPZU2TS-zGhGiMHrnU/s1600-h/DSC_0009-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiocqbSuFA4OLHUx47wlC4QmANDcnzG-4FvScP6I7Pphd-P9uJsavMqaRiL6ZtNMWfAi92_X95XQs4X4uS-DNdjIu3osTh-fSzDoCQrhBGpv8MKw9smpH6jQ_Cb4ZPZU2TS-zGhGiMHrnU/s400/DSC_0009-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212582106109824754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After Troy, we went on another bus ride to Bergama, where the ancient city of Pergamum is located. The city was once the center of a great commercial empire, but was eventually assimilated into the Roman Empire. The city itself was built at sea level, as it was a port, but the main ruins - the acropolis, the temple of Athena, and the former ruins of the fabled temple of Zeus (which, according to the tour guide, was sold to German archaeologists for money used to build Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul) were all located on top of a mountain with fantastic views of the city and landscape.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKdKhf4jP7wL5tKFafzTj-llQ-CdoE847RbwIiZ1MRD_d1DcS-FrBpYt2S7ezQlDXGpkWzg67N3Lv9lcE_zO9x_DIiWv0BMocqspUrA_AOSRks9YcSKGivsO1KG_Bid8OsjSBO-XslBc/s1600-h/DSC_0054-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKdKhf4jP7wL5tKFafzTj-llQ-CdoE847RbwIiZ1MRD_d1DcS-FrBpYt2S7ezQlDXGpkWzg67N3Lv9lcE_zO9x_DIiWv0BMocqspUrA_AOSRks9YcSKGivsO1KG_Bid8OsjSBO-XslBc/s400/DSC_0054-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212583312695939890" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUUkeFSso5tKbOWNQRRzVPEgYaJRdOgd_pUwUN3sMPdc6KC56LRMI2RJF86Od79phLrvBSB8f_L8ci3aUDaQ8QEh8ZZsaIv6j5cyTk_CRZQTLGL4Xu24u7qkOzZ9cehoSzU9Cq8IUT1U/s1600-h/DSC_0049-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUUkeFSso5tKbOWNQRRzVPEgYaJRdOgd_pUwUN3sMPdc6KC56LRMI2RJF86Od79phLrvBSB8f_L8ci3aUDaQ8QEh8ZZsaIv6j5cyTk_CRZQTLGL4Xu24u7qkOzZ9cehoSzU9Cq8IUT1U/s400/DSC_0049-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212585147529849490" border="0" /></a><br />The view from the top:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsWc6gD_glFSm_mYPU_ej1zbIZ1vkdPnEULY-SbIBSEcJ6GzhncHRCBP-_0pyj2JNXCF9sNfpdgzTEXkbiE4-AIhXXG5Bbur6tpqwZHRluP3rGtL2VW0U4jvg8IqQw_x_4TM8pi6RZJs/s1600-h/DSC_0072-4.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsWc6gD_glFSm_mYPU_ej1zbIZ1vkdPnEULY-SbIBSEcJ6GzhncHRCBP-_0pyj2JNXCF9sNfpdgzTEXkbiE4-AIhXXG5Bbur6tpqwZHRluP3rGtL2VW0U4jvg8IqQw_x_4TM8pi6RZJs/s400/DSC_0072-4.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212585154459832098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then we took another 4 hour bus trip to Selcuk, in the south of Turkey, and had a fantastic dinner on the terrace of the Australian and New Zealand Guest House, where we're spending the night. Tomorrow, we'll see the ruins of Ephesus, the Virgin Mary's house where she died, the Temple of Artemis, and the beach.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-71676532775132622442008-06-13T13:09:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:02.009-08:00Touristing in TurkeyThere are a lot of tourists in Turkey. We occasionally see Americans here, but most of the tourists tend to be German or Spanish or Russian. Amazingly, a majority of the foreign visitors to the country don't even stop by Istanbul, but rather head straight for the beaches along the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. Sultanahmet does get ridiculously crowded, though - Here's a picture of the throngs of tourists near the Blue Mosque:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumW6eIT03_gX588CJYCSP_konBGjkbckVT6WEa3po84vkmZAMhQk6M2UbyL1DFMLePhFSnPMlK6Hxe0pxYuoQQlDYDk_rJRxnHwrGbEBvAeBIQgnciJLdgRe4dajZ2BQr05ZX4ZCfjgE/s1600-h/DSC_0042-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumW6eIT03_gX588CJYCSP_konBGjkbckVT6WEa3po84vkmZAMhQk6M2UbyL1DFMLePhFSnPMlK6Hxe0pxYuoQQlDYDk_rJRxnHwrGbEBvAeBIQgnciJLdgRe4dajZ2BQr05ZX4ZCfjgE/s400/DSC_0042-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211480921734259250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Because we're studying, we prefer to call ourselves <span style="font-style: italic;">ogrenci</span>, or students. Every time we go anywhere, there are so many things to take pictures of that we all bring our own cameras. We have to embrace the tourist inside us - so much so that when we take pictures we all say "tourists!" Everyone has their own: there's Kristina with the giant camera that dwarfs anyone else (which she got after negotiating the price in customs from $1800 to $30), Emily with her video camera, Zoe with the slightly larger version of my camera, and everyone else with their varying compact cameras. Here they all are:<br /><br /><br />And some pictures of us touristing:<br /><br />At the Blue Mosque:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsuka9ZhueMpohpaBL20-Xyrf3ph4p8WlEJvsF95QdyFyANTdGpRhjIlQJAKGOO8SB5auzt94NM1qGBO8QRmLtSdIYE3-PhSRrP_ZZMDGAq_gE0IMmDX99jP1p1Ioy5-NGZpp75Vhj8I/s1600-h/DSC_0008-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXsuka9ZhueMpohpaBL20-Xyrf3ph4p8WlEJvsF95QdyFyANTdGpRhjIlQJAKGOO8SB5auzt94NM1qGBO8QRmLtSdIYE3-PhSRrP_ZZMDGAq_gE0IMmDX99jP1p1Ioy5-NGZpp75Vhj8I/s400/DSC_0008-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211480914573867410" border="0" /></a><br />Emily on her video camera at Yedikule<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3QPX4L461A1Z3Jzb8-MZmyUAxe_ldK_nVt1FYGjbrWqDrcyDGH-fBcKRIQBN-MM0LKSkcWrYSa7YcIY9WARM0J-Ymg3WO1B0YIExWgvf0-x1hkeSiGOZuk1XyofnWtLFRR77DdbbZSg/s1600-h/DSC_0033-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3QPX4L461A1Z3Jzb8-MZmyUAxe_ldK_nVt1FYGjbrWqDrcyDGH-fBcKRIQBN-MM0LKSkcWrYSa7YcIY9WARM0J-Ymg3WO1B0YIExWgvf0-x1hkeSiGOZuk1XyofnWtLFRR77DdbbZSg/s400/DSC_0033-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211480923750023410" border="0" /></a>Walking (that's what we do best) by the Dolmabahce Palace:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0koaEXAwmyl6O0co4KENMRHCxEyHrgdbG6vUjWhQE4zTzgSJ6AaHqAY_BDUjqfwrCpMVKPPJt86J7fxWs7dBAz-Yi-a8iBVXnwXnCIkig74p0FuP4cz_nK4TzmqzAn2zRc4vhE_MvH8/s1600-h/DSC_0155-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0koaEXAwmyl6O0co4KENMRHCxEyHrgdbG6vUjWhQE4zTzgSJ6AaHqAY_BDUjqfwrCpMVKPPJt86J7fxWs7dBAz-Yi-a8iBVXnwXnCIkig74p0FuP4cz_nK4TzmqzAn2zRc4vhE_MvH8/s400/DSC_0155-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211480932173986978" border="0" /></a><br />At a lot of the places we're going we find groups of Turkish kids, all of whom scream out the only only english they know in a fast blur: "hellowhatisyournamemynameis ____". And all of them want to have pictures taken:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKkWCYZUKxNyxItXdO0jdyI0GHAK7L2Z3k63r1pwPkmmXqrucKCwH0TP1PqVFkyJISJVx1duiO99wL1xs-H77gVDLJsQrxqhdGFGOHR724hoksjp9-x9Pn9y8Gr9wqg7wPBN-d9cOGpA/s1600-h/DSC_0008-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKkWCYZUKxNyxItXdO0jdyI0GHAK7L2Z3k63r1pwPkmmXqrucKCwH0TP1PqVFkyJISJVx1duiO99wL1xs-H77gVDLJsQrxqhdGFGOHR724hoksjp9-x9Pn9y8Gr9wqg7wPBN-d9cOGpA/s400/DSC_0008-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211484374612841314" border="0" /></a>Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to add something tomorrow too.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-46035319982923296862008-06-09T11:38:00.000-07:002008-06-09T13:29:55.459-07:00Some Thoughts on TurkeyWARNING: LONG, DIFFICULT POST WITH NO PICTURES AHEAD<br /><br />So this post isn't so much about what I did today but about what I thought about and we discussed. Our course work here in Turkey has focused on trying to identify what makes up the Turkish state - who are the Turks? Obviously, to understand modern Turkey one must be knowledgeable about its history. And that's what we've been doing - reading history including books like Turkey: The Quest for Identity, by Feroz Ahmad, and Stephen Kinzer's Crescent and Star.<br /><br />This morning we met at the Medrese and discussed the issue of the Turkish state. Our discussions spilled over into a conversation we had with Professor Haldun Gulalp, of Yildiz University in Istanbul. Basically, we discussed modern Turkey - why did this country which has so much promise had such a turbulent past?<br /><br />Of course, no one in the West really hears about Turkey, and so it's not such a big surprise that people don't know about the different military coups the country has had, and how important the military is in this country.<br /><br />But first, a brief history of modern Turkey:<br /><br />Turkey was founded in 1923 out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire by a charismatic, intelligent and strong man named Mustafa Kemal. He later took up the name Ataturk - father of Turks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.plevnelisesi.k12.tr/mustafakemalataturk/MustafaKemalAtaturk001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.plevnelisesi.k12.tr/mustafakemalataturk/MustafaKemalAtaturk001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The Man, the Legend.<br /></div><br />Ataturk was a brilliant man in many respects, and I intend to explore his identity and the cult-like following he has in this country in a later project. The most important thing to know about him is that he was able to defeat the European powers that were going to carve up his country into colonies, then led the country on a series of modernizing crusades that removed Islam from being the state's official religion, banned the fez (a symbol of how backwards the Ottoman Empire was), and established the nation's path towards the West and away from the East.<br /><br />In 1926, Ataturk gave a speech that lasted 6 days (yes, really - 6 days). The words from that speech formed the basis for Turkey's constitution and the way the country would be ruled henceforth. Ataturk formed the basis for a Turkish democracy (though democratic rule was never really practiced while he was alive).<br /><br />Ataturk died in 1938 (of cirrhosis of the liver, no less). In 1950, Ataturk's political party lost for the first time by a landslide. But things were not to go well for Turkey's political system. Since Ataturk died, Turkey's military has considered itself the vanguard of Ataturk and everything he stood for - collectively known as Kemalism.<br /><br />Many academics and historians have concluded that Kemalism and the nationalism that Ataturk engendered took the place of Islam in modern Turkey. Nevertheless, Islam continues to be a presence throughout the country, as the muezzin (call to prayer) 5 times a day reminds everyone.<br /><br />But when the country (or its political parties) moves too far away from the secularism promoted by Ataturk and closer towards Islam, the military vanguard freaks. And by freak, I mean throws a military coup. Three times - 1960, 1972, 1980 - the military has flexed its muscle against political parties that weren't following the "Ataturk way" - although it has always been with huge popular support. In 1960, a court went as far as to execute the prime minister and three of his high political allies.<br /><br />As recently as 1997, the military expressed its disgust at the ruling coalition - and the party was banned by a constitutional court. In another case, one military general posted online that he thought some political leaders had to pick up the slack - and the leaders changed the way they governed. The military has so much power that its "security council" essentially gives orders to the government's top politicians.<br /><br />And therein lies the problem. How can a country like Turkey, a country with European Union aspirations, ever hope to become a true democracy when the leaders who are popularly elected willingly take orders from the military? And how can a democracy - and its people - ever truly mature if its government can effectively be taken out of power whenever a select group of generals decide that they are not following Ataturk's will closely enough?<br /><br />Clayton countered Edward and my argument about the military being a sort of Big Brother that never allows Turkey to become a true democracy by saying that without a strong military, Turkey would not have to the place that it is today. That is probably true - Turkey's military tradition brought the nation together following WWI, and the excellent military schools and academies provide the best education in Turkey. But in a country where internet is widely available, newspapers report the happenings of politics around the world (including in-depth coverage of the Obama-Clinton-McCain election), and a press increasingly critical of government institutions and parties, the Turkish people are smart and ready enough for a government that does not have to be baby-sat by the army.<br /><br />Not only is Turkey as a country ready for a real democracy, but it it needs it in order to accomplish the most basic of Kemalist goals. Ironically, by being a continuing presence in Turkish politics, the Turkish military hinders Ataturk's goal of Turkey becoming a western country, the goal most symbolically represented by joining the EU. Turkey already faces tough obstacles in joining - the most obvious of them is that it is a Muslim country bidding for entrance into a Christian group of countries - but even if the EU would get over itself and look past its differences with Turkey, it would still never allow in a country that allows the military to take such a powerful presence. The military must step down if Turkey wants to fulfill the promise it has as a nation.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-24463456933806731052008-06-05T11:48:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:04.410-08:00A Weekend in BursaSooo it's about time I posted about our trip to Bursa this weekend. I've been putting it off because I was afraid of having so much to write about that I'd forget it all. Let's just say it was a crazy weekend.<br /><br />Background: Professor Shields had originally suggested going to Bursa with her since it was so close to Istanbul. When we told Murat, the friendly Turkish guy who lives two floors below us, that we were planning to go there, he got really excited and told us he would organize for all of us to stay at his friend's house. Murat was originally from Bursa and had come to Istanbul to study film. Seeing an opportunity to stay somewhere for free and stay with a Turkish family, we jumped at the chance. Murat rapidly called his friends and started organizing. As the date of departure came closer and closer, though, we hadn't heard anything from Murat and so were afraid that plans had fallen through. At the last minute, Murat called and told us that he had secured a place for us to stay that we were good to go; he would follow six hours later.<br /><br />The Journey: We gathered our bags and walked to Taksim Square, a long walk without bags and even longer with them. We tried to make the 4 pm bus and missed it by a few minutes, so we had to wait another 1.5 hours.We finally got on the bus and left Yekta, who was watching over us like a worried mother and kept telling us to call her if anything happened. The bus ended up being a shuttle to the real bus station. There, we waited for close to an hour to get on the 6:15 bus - the bus finally arrived at 7:15. I guess that's just Turkish time. The bus ride was very eventful. About an hour into the bus ride (and three hours we had left the flat) I told Kelly, who was sitting next to me, that I had serious deja vu. I could swear I had seen the buildings we were passing, but I could not remember from where. Sure enough, twenty minutes later we passed Sabanci University where we had been the day before. It had taken us 3 1/2 hours to get to the same place we had reached in less than an hour the day before. At that point, all the Americans on the bus (i.e. our group of 7). Bursa was supposedly three hours away, but our journey there had already taken more than three hours, and we weren't even halfway there. We tried calling Yekta, who had stayed behind in Istanbul, to tell her how ridiculously long we had taken to get to the same point we had been to the day before in less than half the time, but as soon as Kelly took out her phone the bus attendant came and yelled at her in Turkish while vigorously pointing his hand at the phone. Apparently, the Turks have the ridiculous notion that using a cell phone while on a bus will interfere with the braking of the bus (not that the Turkish drivers use brakes anyway).<br /><br />Soon after, the bus pulled into a road that ended in the sea - we had to get on a ferry to get to Bursa. At that point, we lost it laughing - our trip thus far had been absolutely ridiculous. Not only where we on a bus to go stay with the family of a friend of a friend of a person we had just met in a country where we didn't speak the language, but we had taken more than 3 hours to reach a place that had taken 45 minutes the day before, gotten yelled at for "interfering with the brakes" by using a cell phone, tried to figure out where in the world we were using a guide from 1978 and a set of 6 maps that some genius editor had decided to include instead of one full map (one of the Turkish guys sitting next to us said the maps we used belonged to Marco Polo), and ended up on a ferry that we didn't know was part of the trip. For all we knew, the ferry would end up in Greece or go back to Istanbul. And it only gets better.<br /><br />We got off the bus and onto the ferry, still recovering from laughing so hard on the bus (the Turks were giving us disapproving glances), we sat and decided to get some Turkish tea. Within the first two minutes, a man dressed in black pants and a black shirt with hair greased back approached us and asked if he could sit down with us. We were used to this - after all, Turks are very friendly people who love to talk to foreigners about their country - but this time was different. After inquiring about what we were doing in Turkey and where we were from, this Turk tried to buy us tea and asked us (and by us, I mean the men of the group) what we were doing that night. He then patted Edward's hands and then rested his hand on Clayton's leg for an extended period of time. In Turkey, it is very common for male friends to hold onto each other's arms and generally be very physically expressive with each other, but what this guy was doing was pushing the boundaries. I tried to excuse myself from the awkwardness and leave the table, and Edward came running after with me and said "Rescue me - we're on the gay cruise." I broke down laughing again at the ridiculousness of the situation again. We got even more creeped out when the ferry finally arrived and we found out that Ahmed - the guy who had been hitting on Edward and Clayton - got on the same bus as us. Here's a picture - guess who the creeper is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBywQ5fzHCoty_sIFS0mMgp8z6_6VebSA8TRKofclbyamVvya0rlpM8aKRsD5vw9gPvg0uImBdA0KMZZ_pi2CAL5rRorwOGpGPdJpaPXsZlvgLa752AJaGy2o29AhKIVOd8uyZFL3vEfc/s1600-h/Bursa.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBywQ5fzHCoty_sIFS0mMgp8z6_6VebSA8TRKofclbyamVvya0rlpM8aKRsD5vw9gPvg0uImBdA0KMZZ_pi2CAL5rRorwOGpGPdJpaPXsZlvgLa752AJaGy2o29AhKIVOd8uyZFL3vEfc/s400/Bursa.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208489414263351330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After leaving the ferry, the bus went for an hour before finally arriving at the main bus terminal in Bursa. I had managed to sneak in a phone call to the Turks who were receiving us without interfering with the breaks, and told them that we were going to be a little late. Selman, Murat's best friend, assured us he'd be there. And sure enough, when we got off the bus, a group of three Turks came to us and asked in a curious, apprehensive voice, "Americans?" We had arrived in Bursa.<br /><br />The Turks introduced themselves - there was Selman, who I had talked to on the phone, Taner, and Eyup. We would be staying at Eyup's house that night. Selman spoke some English - apparently, he learned it all by watching Seinfeld - and Taner and Eyup spoke as much English as we spoke Turkish - practically none. The Turks led us to another bus that we had to wait for and we received an unexpected surprise - Ahmed, the same guy in the black shirt and greasy hair was also waiting for the same bus. By this point, the guys in the group were very creeped out and unsure of what to do. I communicated to Eyup and Taner that Ahmed, who had chosen to stand right next to our seats and by this time was tapping Edward and Clayton's shoulder trying to ask them what they were going to tonight, was bad news. Here's a picture of him with Edward pretending to be asleep:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1vbgtF0r44AD5qSJ8N17k2sEiAwdLwlduJDdBv3y3-hUnjmIs3RUGUfisJVGgIkmlN4UhYhA7cESgZm7f8_KRSt3O8aMb-1KhamEHKn7LURHDtD8goluucslfUGa_Ea2iHoMziXE_48/s1600-h/Bursa2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1vbgtF0r44AD5qSJ8N17k2sEiAwdLwlduJDdBv3y3-hUnjmIs3RUGUfisJVGgIkmlN4UhYhA7cESgZm7f8_KRSt3O8aMb-1KhamEHKn7LURHDtD8goluucslfUGa_Ea2iHoMziXE_48/s400/Bursa2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208489409968384018" border="0" /></a><br />Finally, the guy got the hint that we weren't gay and didn't want to hang out with him, not that we were worried - Selman had whispered to us in English that he was our protection from Ahmed. Once Ahmed was out of the picture, we felt more relaxed and after a few minutes, got off the bus. We got off the bus in what looked to be a lower income neighborhood. After walking a bit, the seven of us were shown into a house where we met Eyup's mother and gave her the baclava we had bought for her earlier. Then we all crowded into an oddly shaped rhombus room smaller than my dorm room back home. As if ten people in the room weren't enough, three more Turks showed up and introduced themselves. They served us some wine and soda, a popular mix here, and told us about themselves in whatever English they knew and whatever we Turkish we knew. Apparently, American rock and roll bands from the 50s and 60s (think the Beatles, Buddy Holly and, of course, Elvis) are a big deal in Bursa, and three of the guys were in a rock and roll band. We had a good time talking with the Turks but the excessive amount of people and smoking (Turks smoke like chimneys - its literally one after another) that some of us had to go outside. There, we discovered the toilet.<br /><br />Toilets in Turkey might be one of the things that didn't get included in Ataturk's broad plans for modernization. here's a picture:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgtDCAuFzrn1gZ7PYG8kB9eLZGBKqzVvra8B6TdxNtHAzg_fGo2T2n_gExVdCyIij7YtTbrEHsHsV8Ns14E2AMrae5o9fXmFd9Q72pjhUVF3gPcEU9HH-V0JZFxVVNlU4saX5c6feV2I/s1600-h/toilet%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgtDCAuFzrn1gZ7PYG8kB9eLZGBKqzVvra8B6TdxNtHAzg_fGo2T2n_gExVdCyIij7YtTbrEHsHsV8Ns14E2AMrae5o9fXmFd9Q72pjhUVF3gPcEU9HH-V0JZFxVVNlU4saX5c6feV2I/s400/toilet%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208493339863459890" border="0" /></a><br />For some reason, Turks continue to use what is called a "Turkish" or "Squat" toilet. This device is merely a modified hole in the ground - an porcelain surface that is inclined so that any liquids can flow to a hole found at one end of it. Instead of water pipes or flushing, a separate faucet is installed on one of the walls with a bucket underneath. When you are done doing your business, you are supposed to fill the bucket and wash the toilet. Not only is this inconvenient and inefficient, but dripping and pouring the water makes the floor wet (and no one likes walking into a wet bathroom). To complicate things even more, toilet paper is usually not provided.<br /><br />This was what we found out when one of us decided to use the toilet. To make things worse, the toilet was broken and it smelled - well, let's just say it smelled unfortunate. This wasn't as bad for guys, but for girls the situation was bad. Thankfully, we viewed the situation somewhat comically.<br /><br />When we finally decided to get some rest, the Turks left and we tried to arrange ourselves on the two couches, the twin sized bed and the floor. The seven of us were relatively comfortable until three of the Turks came back and told us that they were also going to stay with us - it was a tight fit. Here's Kelly, Edward and Amanda trying to fit on one couch, with Kevin's feet sticking in and Clayton on the floor. I slept on the floor as well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQDqMxvxSGHUUBpzL6gUbj0AB4W4XXRyJ_iqdy6k80RaqB6C3CUIRM5EkPhUBJeutOhJJFmehf3cndDYeHjIrtDir2PUUr3Eqsxses9Gfgb9woVL0d_PuPZt33SSIkrCdJy36jgUWvFI/s1600-h/Bursa3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQDqMxvxSGHUUBpzL6gUbj0AB4W4XXRyJ_iqdy6k80RaqB6C3CUIRM5EkPhUBJeutOhJJFmehf3cndDYeHjIrtDir2PUUr3Eqsxses9Gfgb9woVL0d_PuPZt33SSIkrCdJy36jgUWvFI/s400/Bursa3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208501371452303426" border="0" /></a><br />The next morning, we were all up early since we couldn't sleep very long in our tight sleeping quarters. Selman, Taner and Eyup then led us on a walking tour of Bursa where we visited the Yesil Cami, or Green Mosque, and Ulu Cami, among other things. Here's a picture of the Turks and us in Ulu Cami, a huge mosque in the heart of the city: (from the left: Taner, me, Amanda, Edward, Kevin, Clayton, Kelly, Selman, Orhan, a guy I don't know, and Eyup)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nGkEQcT_zjLTv1LJ8I0RKeuT3fPjCXgfastEsA5jnRUkKWkKSjDxs62cPE6rGfy47daWjrg6RoQf1k8-a-yTVb5K4MleEwBlj4Lga4kGMf2asx-ieCCXAF_s3sErodlsDY5ErPQJzyQ/s1600-h/DSC_0169-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3nGkEQcT_zjLTv1LJ8I0RKeuT3fPjCXgfastEsA5jnRUkKWkKSjDxs62cPE6rGfy47daWjrg6RoQf1k8-a-yTVb5K4MleEwBlj4Lga4kGMf2asx-ieCCXAF_s3sErodlsDY5ErPQJzyQ/s400/DSC_0169-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208511580589566050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Bursa was the first capital of the Ottoman empire and so is the resting place of its first sultan, Osman I. We visited his mausoleum:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQjbsnUPdIpzo0y5aBTmjerLgHFb_yuOOOv5iM-_HSOqMP3swbsUg1f9QRR3mOgROZBaH5lIU9BphCF74auXRSqWM37xnNqe35Sy_B4YmolW9EJzHYa25Euwc0_L0aawBVojrg3BjcrQ/s1600-h/DSC_0150-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQjbsnUPdIpzo0y5aBTmjerLgHFb_yuOOOv5iM-_HSOqMP3swbsUg1f9QRR3mOgROZBaH5lIU9BphCF74auXRSqWM37xnNqe35Sy_B4YmolW9EJzHYa25Euwc0_L0aawBVojrg3BjcrQ/s400/DSC_0150-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208509707983824978" border="0" /></a><br />And a view of the city.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhihzCG8wax6recjGZfS6HYHXS4kyB8eQDyQUDPLn1XwzMeKNOyvANX3q6Ga_ykFEWfFR0fMZ5MpCommTgUXGNPfjACZ0FqAyxmyUAS0OvZ7cdBE7tiWkv-d4RD93ASaI5q3M-ZWWVB7s/s1600-h/DSC_0152-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhihzCG8wax6recjGZfS6HYHXS4kyB8eQDyQUDPLn1XwzMeKNOyvANX3q6Ga_ykFEWfFR0fMZ5MpCommTgUXGNPfjACZ0FqAyxmyUAS0OvZ7cdBE7tiWkv-d4RD93ASaI5q3M-ZWWVB7s/s400/DSC_0152-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208827384734713970" border="0" /></a><br />After grabbing some lunch we went to a Hamam - a Turkish bath. It looked like a mosque with many domes - here's a look from the outside:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4EVA0sZD5SSgVu1NmtvVfX3ojfkJzDdlKMGCNFmaZnh7Rmp9pVmzK340kQvq0xJoF_5sHuSt753xAP34PJ2bWQ2CjBuxuSHok8KWH4zxLOeD8ZsEca-5VIC9pAin0r5kB_E4f-9r3_E/s1600-h/DSC_0173.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4EVA0sZD5SSgVu1NmtvVfX3ojfkJzDdlKMGCNFmaZnh7Rmp9pVmzK340kQvq0xJoF_5sHuSt753xAP34PJ2bWQ2CjBuxuSHok8KWH4zxLOeD8ZsEca-5VIC9pAin0r5kB_E4f-9r3_E/s400/DSC_0173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208836486621558098" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The hamam was built was in 1555 by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. We couldn't take any pictures inside because of the humidity, but it was incredible. The bath is designed in a circular fashion, with a swimming pool with naturally heated spring water in the center and nooks around the circle with running faucets. The faucets pour hot water into a basin and you are supposed to use buckets and take water out of the basin and bathe yourself with them. Obviously, we had no idea how to do any of this, so our Turkish friends showed us. And by showed us, I mean bathed us. Eyup, one of our friends, took some soap and soaped me up. They then got a mit with a surface that felt like medium grade sandpaper and started scraping my arms. I could see my skin peeling off. After having been exfoliated, we swam in the bath. We also got shown into a room with a warning, "one or two minutes! dangerous!" The room was hot - really hot. We saw a sign on the wall that said it was 83 degrees centigrade - 180 degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as we walked in the heat hit us, and it was so hot that we could not breathe through our nostrils because it sting. After two minutes, my hair felt like it was boiling, my lungs were hurting, and my heart was pumping faster than I'd ever felt it. We decided we had to get out of there before we died and told the Turks in there that we were leaving - they laughed at us. Once we left, we chilled for a little bit. While I was walking around the pool a Turkish guy sitting in another hot pool called, appropriately, the Lion's Mouth - some very hot spring water came out of a lion's mouth placed on the wall. After talking in my very basic Turkish to the men in there, they motioned for me to get under the fountain. The water was scalding, and after only a few minutes my back was numb from pain. One our Turkish friends came and communicated with us that we should get out because the water was dangerously hot. After a while, we decided to get out before our skin fell off because of the humidity. In the cool-off room, a man wrapped us in three different towels - here's a picture with Taner:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_tf4yH0xbFTwQPsADJhqDQV5JMGXME04X9-yBDDLJ6GPtq3agmWGmUXjZMufQoNvYHvTo2uUWB5GzeaBIBZ49ZbgQ2ca2g3LTdM5Hn1e8tHdMqjxWdtV6Ug5kbEFKel1v1pemTJxhfY/s1600-h/DSC_0174-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp_tf4yH0xbFTwQPsADJhqDQV5JMGXME04X9-yBDDLJ6GPtq3agmWGmUXjZMufQoNvYHvTo2uUWB5GzeaBIBZ49ZbgQ2ca2g3LTdM5Hn1e8tHdMqjxWdtV6Ug5kbEFKel1v1pemTJxhfY/s400/DSC_0174-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209195278293333634" border="0" /></a><br />After the hamam, Taner came over and told us that he had a surprise for us. Then he took us on a taxi ride down to a new house we hadn't been to yet. What we found was incredible.<br /><br />Taner's entire family (and extended family) had shown up to welcome us into their house. After letting us put our stuff in one of their rooms, they showed us to the terrace of their building where they had a beautiful view of Bursa and the mountains surrounding it. It reminded me of San Jose, CR - picture:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVKosCN89PTkKE20gRi0galGpHCt14E_inRKn0UjG6iO1pQBInv6WlleVFzJg23ipJm4n3tFnqcjBByoE0ZHxdC3dzQIQlcv8OYT9jdnJ7BiHNXYkUBlyWLC3y7Ngzo6gnNqbSpisUKJU/s1600-h/DSC_0177-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVKosCN89PTkKE20gRi0galGpHCt14E_inRKn0UjG6iO1pQBInv6WlleVFzJg23ipJm4n3tFnqcjBByoE0ZHxdC3dzQIQlcv8OYT9jdnJ7BiHNXYkUBlyWLC3y7Ngzo6gnNqbSpisUKJU/s400/DSC_0177-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209201140744308034" border="0" /></a><br />Then their family sat us down at a table with vines stretching over us and treated us to the best meal we've had in Turkey so far. First, they served us fruit - apricots, cherries, erik (green sour plum-like fruit from Turkey) and bananas. Then they served us delicious tomato soup with bread, followed by a plate of "cigar pies", a kind of Turkish empanada rolled up like a cigar with melted cheese in the middle. Then they brought us two different types of salad and an entree of cooked eggplant stuffed with ground meat with pilav on the side. For a second entree, they served lahmacun, a "Turkish pizza" of sorts. The dough is covered with different spices and ground beef; lettuce and tomatoes that have been chopped up are then placed on top of the dough, and the entire thing is rolled up kind of like a burrito. Here's a picture of us at dinner (thanks Kevin for the pic):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcY4k5_q3VNt6WtLlS44k34HeC257YAnh8QFLdTqtWzOSD-g7GihzeYsN5iPIACDre8K7ZCNyOek1VDHt3pJ0EpkK9z8hvVbOrHzyAYpG0Xs_W66sHY9iVtF9J00E3VcFyI5BU9OzptY/s1600-h/DSCN0321.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcY4k5_q3VNt6WtLlS44k34HeC257YAnh8QFLdTqtWzOSD-g7GihzeYsN5iPIACDre8K7ZCNyOek1VDHt3pJ0EpkK9z8hvVbOrHzyAYpG0Xs_W66sHY9iVtF9J00E3VcFyI5BU9OzptY/s400/DSCN0321.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209206814550020162" border="0" /></a><br />By that time, we were all stuffed from eating so much food. They insisted on bringing us some Turkish coffee and cay (Turkish tea). By the end of it, some of us were laying down trying to digest all the food we had eaten. Selman then told us that we would be moving to Orhan's house to spend the night - we prepared for another adventure at another Turkish home, only to discover that Orhan's house was actually on the first floor of the building. Turks like the ones we stayed with like living in the same building, so each floor of the structure we were in belonged to one family that was connected to the other ones on the adjoining floors. The result is very close relationships between families, and we found out that Orhan and Taner, who we had thought were just friends, were actually cousins.<br /><br />Once we had moved our stuff to the first floor, we hung out in a room with Taner, Selman, Eyup, and Taner's cousins. It was a good experience - obviously, neither of our sides knew enough of each other's language to speak to each other, so we resorted to the obvious choice: music. We would play American songs for them and they would play Turkish songs for us. By the end of the night, Taner (who I had grown closest to of the three Turkish friends) and I were singing and strumming (on an air guitar, of course) along to Hotel California, Old Time Rock and Roll, Down on the Corner and other classics. Our hosts continued to be extremely gracious and hospitable, and continued to serve us Coke and bring us sunflower seeds to chew on.<br /><br />By 1 am, we were all tired - the Turks were falling asleep and we were ready to go to sleep so we could leave early the next morning to Istanbul. Our hosts showed us to a room where we all slept comfortably (as opposed to the previous night). The next morning, we woke up and the Turks treated us to another feast for breakfast: hardboiled eggs, fruit, french fries, cheese, sausage, bread, jam, and more.<br /><br />Here's a picture of breakfast (thanks Clayton):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8CqbyfZCR5slJqJy8kmWsV9Rwqu1p-SAMhay7BlZ3MNREnswU7GkmC8el3AWghmoqqsVH14fZuUs9b-7hvp8Wn20bBeHA34GdaWEC2edjZey6RqIxcP-VchT-UETB2dyvclvbTqU2xM/s1600-h/IMG_2701.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm8CqbyfZCR5slJqJy8kmWsV9Rwqu1p-SAMhay7BlZ3MNREnswU7GkmC8el3AWghmoqqsVH14fZuUs9b-7hvp8Wn20bBeHA34GdaWEC2edjZey6RqIxcP-VchT-UETB2dyvclvbTqU2xM/s400/IMG_2701.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209209416983551986" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After breakfast, Taner's dad offered to drive us to the bus terminal for our bus back to Istanbul. Taner, who I had talked to about soccer the day before (we both agreed we were Galatasaray fans) gave me his personal banner for the team - I was very touched that this guy who I had met 36 hours before was already giving me such a personal gift:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA-xmN-OV_LjEhZ_Kwqc3MtVaVYNnzD0gkJhztMWk1DxVAVMvJYs6EGV34bOiepp5rwieEbfjzqoylv7GwlBJ6VrV4b7ArOuAl6DsUVMzi7VsnO3zU9RMzQid51YfOsaqItXGZYc3JvQ/s1600-h/DSC_0192-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhA-xmN-OV_LjEhZ_Kwqc3MtVaVYNnzD0gkJhztMWk1DxVAVMvJYs6EGV34bOiepp5rwieEbfjzqoylv7GwlBJ6VrV4b7ArOuAl6DsUVMzi7VsnO3zU9RMzQid51YfOsaqItXGZYc3JvQ/s400/DSC_0192-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209210085228357906" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Once at the bus terminal, the Turks helped us buy our tickets. We said our goodbyes and hugged each other. One last group picture:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pcq7PTzYiJVPXGqGxH_P64JVqoJCFEwKepUwMt-jZRRLJWed_tJ10p4TN4dKOwqhYIu_ro0lV7gGiCCJqWE2yqK8UbA3qkoeg0bpmmZcBqU9Qexk9phSJiFECTUugwgeBmJdr3gYOAE/s1600-h/DSC_0193-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pcq7PTzYiJVPXGqGxH_P64JVqoJCFEwKepUwMt-jZRRLJWed_tJ10p4TN4dKOwqhYIu_ro0lV7gGiCCJqWE2yqK8UbA3qkoeg0bpmmZcBqU9Qexk9phSJiFECTUugwgeBmJdr3gYOAE/s400/DSC_0193-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209468456731331714" border="0" /></a><br />All of us were amazed by our weekend - we never expected these people and their families who had never even heard of us to take us in and treat us like their family. It was an amazing example of Turkish hospitality. When the bus finally departed, the four Turks who had brought us to the bus terminal stood outside our windows and, jokingly, pulled out a bunch of tissues and waved them at us as if they were crying.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2j42Ngemxz22HnnWoxNfxwBBUVUlS_kCIAJYA_2kWk4ebCeUB1ZenmcDRvUX-sp_6L4-e7G0pW41MkNndC5K6oeNKhE39pPrrrsBKwTOfCi6r1BAV2Il-3IKudWd3y9GvhVZacP2ofw/s1600-h/IMG_2715.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy2j42Ngemxz22HnnWoxNfxwBBUVUlS_kCIAJYA_2kWk4ebCeUB1ZenmcDRvUX-sp_6L4-e7G0pW41MkNndC5K6oeNKhE39pPrrrsBKwTOfCi6r1BAV2Il-3IKudWd3y9GvhVZacP2ofw/s400/IMG_2715.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209468436228844306" border="0" /></a>Obviously, it was a joke, but it reminded us that we had actually become good friends with these guys despite not speaking their language in only 36 hours. Five hours later, we arrived back at our flat in Istanbul. And that was our weekend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-64144103484336863462008-06-04T08:31:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:05.793-08:00Dolmabahce and the Military MuseumToday we finally got to go to Dolmahbace, the most recent and most European palaces of the Ottoman Empire, built in the 1840s and 50s. The Palace is located right on the Bosphorus and is huge - according to Prof. Shields, the Sultan paid 35 tons of gold - more than 1 billion dollars today- on the palace, effectively bankrupting the empire. The architecture is supposed to resemble the buildings of Versailles.<br /><br />Here is one of the entrances:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1vTgQoD0ORsnM-PB5CQTTbZ4zMAxoLT1ojb7JtVgN0yUdIw0a7vI3cL1gv3QmRKWnoqotUP1kd8bKEeY76KG_YFMbzb89xag19ac9TVeGRjhJJOD4EqRZN_5F41vfo21Ip9hr3a_sxU/s1600-h/DSC_0157-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr1vTgQoD0ORsnM-PB5CQTTbZ4zMAxoLT1ojb7JtVgN0yUdIw0a7vI3cL1gv3QmRKWnoqotUP1kd8bKEeY76KG_YFMbzb89xag19ac9TVeGRjhJJOD4EqRZN_5F41vfo21Ip9hr3a_sxU/s400/DSC_0157-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208153895713154994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's a picture of the group:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiic-W7Ie_DwH7GMfxXJ9SV6tGZDc5xvO5TLpJ9EsNMy3-m0Sh3Z_3m7p0uxvG9V41UqTn7se8xVhLkjcBXLO9M8-9pkHdeGjs1KKsSs9Km6EHGbm5EoSR_BAhhlwSWoFJ0sdKHKVwOtDY/s1600-h/DSC_0167-3.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiic-W7Ie_DwH7GMfxXJ9SV6tGZDc5xvO5TLpJ9EsNMy3-m0Sh3Z_3m7p0uxvG9V41UqTn7se8xVhLkjcBXLO9M8-9pkHdeGjs1KKsSs9Km6EHGbm5EoSR_BAhhlwSWoFJ0sdKHKVwOtDY/s400/DSC_0167-3.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208156678851962866" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The inside was even more imposing than the outside - rooms were covered in gold leaf and full of gifts from English, Russian, French and other European monarchs. The palace was built as a modern home for the sultan (in comparison to Topkapi palace built in the 1460s) and was supposed to emulate the West in all senses. It was a symbol of the Ottomans looking to the West instead of the East. The main room, which was used to hold receptions and entertain guests, was a staggering 35 meters tall - check out how small people look compared to the first floor columns in this picture (the next three pictures were taken by Kristina, so give credit to her for their being good):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-Msrhy3r3lUjJ0m5IJlC2I10mz9lYheR1iBaxXYY8rbFohVVCdpqaaOJnmDcDFX3D43Pxyn1oleNqp_XVAZcG6FOcIZn7tNwPwPFDRWd7SNcqVybSipuSxN_OmG8eTBXBj-mw37ma38/s1600-h/DSC_0303.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-Msrhy3r3lUjJ0m5IJlC2I10mz9lYheR1iBaxXYY8rbFohVVCdpqaaOJnmDcDFX3D43Pxyn1oleNqp_XVAZcG6FOcIZn7tNwPwPFDRWd7SNcqVybSipuSxN_OmG8eTBXBj-mw37ma38/s400/DSC_0303.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208155381771839442" border="0" /></a><br />People who had been to Versailles said Dolmabahce looked like Versailles on steroids -- as is obvious from this picture of the great hall:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3WaNoJYaJOn2IwR-h68llg5vT2VxkNSDDF_0zwu6RTzZU63PBTitqKsYLHqghAzXralsGgdvj4AXvy4cYvkY5vnIshAkyF34BbZ7ZC4XPm7heCBlAvjLgBH4dSGMypb89M7fKJ-0BA4/s1600-h/DSC_0293-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3WaNoJYaJOn2IwR-h68llg5vT2VxkNSDDF_0zwu6RTzZU63PBTitqKsYLHqghAzXralsGgdvj4AXvy4cYvkY5vnIshAkyF34BbZ7ZC4XPm7heCBlAvjLgBH4dSGMypb89M7fKJ-0BA4/s400/DSC_0293-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208153900008122306" border="0" /></a><br />The chandelier you see was suspended from the ceiling and weighed approximately 5 tons. The dome of this room was particularly impressive, as a group of Turkish, Italian and French artists worked to give it a 3-dimensional effect, enhancing how big it seemed:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTn_OF_33BRhsizgWowtdDnCCvI9pnvotfxkN_OSx5NtUw1gy5C-KXZudOGsefocWCKEubhPrsCa1c2BqTF_Tpo7j3_ODlE1CtSI2HE2ShtljfKBvQUIQelF-FXCpV5H1c60X9HYqK_h0/s1600-h/DSC_0280-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTn_OF_33BRhsizgWowtdDnCCvI9pnvotfxkN_OSx5NtUw1gy5C-KXZudOGsefocWCKEubhPrsCa1c2BqTF_Tpo7j3_ODlE1CtSI2HE2ShtljfKBvQUIQelF-FXCpV5H1c60X9HYqK_h0/s400/DSC_0280-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208156678851962882" border="0" /></a><br />Here's another good picture of the group outside:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JCSX35UKxj1tpVVKa7e3XIrHFDRcwfjX_OJuAGYeyXNBsNQjTI4nKjlZ3NWoyhzZOFhhKntd1cYkHnxynNB5ArNAT-0d81y_plQ28-TEaIHCxw7jSBerZIrhYIT08BvD4rjJSdPt4jk/s1600-h/DSC_0316-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JCSX35UKxj1tpVVKa7e3XIrHFDRcwfjX_OJuAGYeyXNBsNQjTI4nKjlZ3NWoyhzZOFhhKntd1cYkHnxynNB5ArNAT-0d81y_plQ28-TEaIHCxw7jSBerZIrhYIT08BvD4rjJSdPt4jk/s400/DSC_0316-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208156674556995554" border="0" /></a><br />The sultan himself stayed in two different sections, with one of his room in the harem. The harem was like the one at Topkapi with a more European look. The sultan's bed was 6 square meters big.<br /><br />After the palace, we got some lunch and headed up to the Military Museum, where Kevin and I did a presentation on the Conquest of Istanbul, the Armenian "issue", as they referred to it in the museum, and other stuff. We also saw a presentation of the Mehter band, the Janissary band that was the first military marching band in Europe:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBJ23rioz30MLfVswO11b1knkVFYMFhKBlJjOMwE_3-gt7azPTwQg2k6Qngi3tWX81T4Iqy5nckKOoSptE5kGVyxi5qhzszIVln7TVoJChpqk9GCazWON5eiNHYvBOMz5Wtzc9NN3GS0/s1600-h/DSC_0031-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYBJ23rioz30MLfVswO11b1knkVFYMFhKBlJjOMwE_3-gt7azPTwQg2k6Qngi3tWX81T4Iqy5nckKOoSptE5kGVyxi5qhzszIVln7TVoJChpqk9GCazWON5eiNHYvBOMz5Wtzc9NN3GS0/s400/DSC_0031-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208153887123220354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Since I didn't post yesterday, I'll go ahead and brief you on one of the more exciting moments. We went to a music museum where a group of musicians played traditional Tartar music with instruments I had never even seen before. After a while, the music became more intense and one man began twirling in circles as a form of prayer - what we call a Whirling Dervish. Technically, this practice is illegal in Turkey, but from our discussion with other Sufis - a branch of Sunni Islam - the ban is a non-issue:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiox4IrWCKtmXeYrsX5pOikFuUoCVYqK-_6NWARXAi0hyphenhyphen6FOd9svcvyP2cfhDrGNmfqq-yNGfOEyVgtTkr6prwmR0nkb55Mxg3i2HUXc_DbGTJPHAcdY521q3JiNmm9uHRq-MCbLj637eY/s1600-h/DSC_0055-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiox4IrWCKtmXeYrsX5pOikFuUoCVYqK-_6NWARXAi0hyphenhyphen6FOd9svcvyP2cfhDrGNmfqq-yNGfOEyVgtTkr6prwmR0nkb55Mxg3i2HUXc_DbGTJPHAcdY521q3JiNmm9uHRq-MCbLj637eY/s400/DSC_0055-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208153891418187666" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the ceremony was done, we were invited to dinner and even were dragged into a Turkish dance party that ended up being very fun, even if us Americans had no idea what we were doing:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgomrTe4kZVlLPDCwnuvIZFA0uRRGWzQiux-tIJc6u7n1zp5UZPYlZmEB39BHNXQtAlO8uiHRTEEUKa2wfmAxlDaHkOIjLRmeJ4qm2crrrgJ78b5BABpUSPZKLnUXaalhTA_wsyvPqntU/s1600-h/DSC_0097-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgomrTe4kZVlLPDCwnuvIZFA0uRRGWzQiux-tIJc6u7n1zp5UZPYlZmEB39BHNXQtAlO8uiHRTEEUKa2wfmAxlDaHkOIjLRmeJ4qm2crrrgJ78b5BABpUSPZKLnUXaalhTA_wsyvPqntU/s400/DSC_0097-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5208153895713154978" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-73079024613390308272008-06-02T11:28:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:07.416-08:00All Along the Watchtower...Today might have been my favorite day in Istanbul so far. Professor Shields took us by train to the start of the famous walls of Istanbul - walls that still surround all of Sultanahmet, Eminonu, and Fatih districts. Here's a map of the walls and what we walked from the bottom of the map up- 3.77 miles.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixloHTOWUlUOl_WhqfM6kg8m5FPpR8VhqB69vVHgKbC3TbZ2iOZEI3rLN0l9fntkpWLN8dkCouIMQVkb2hait95yMvoMUH-5wYcZSfUHMUiz9nyuFy_TZxyY4_SIOuDNlNd_ZG3UrM8_g/s1600-h/gmaps+pedo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixloHTOWUlUOl_WhqfM6kg8m5FPpR8VhqB69vVHgKbC3TbZ2iOZEI3rLN0l9fntkpWLN8dkCouIMQVkb2hait95yMvoMUH-5wYcZSfUHMUiz9nyuFy_TZxyY4_SIOuDNlNd_ZG3UrM8_g/s400/gmaps+pedo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207358180007126722" border="0" /></a>For the most part, the walls were in good condition considering they've been around since 408 a.d. Even more impressive is that we could still walk the entire width of the Golden Horn with the walls in sight - or even with us trekking on top of them. We started with a seven-tower fort called the Yedikule - it was really, really cool - kind of like being at the Tower of London without all the annoying signs, modern additions, cameras, and tourists - we were literally the only ones there. The fort was huge - this is a picture of a minaret in the middle of the courtyard with one of the seven towers in the background:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8NLm8ScLexJohjlOtv6Ri5UlzjMDmyyWn7jcuRE7FsOKG2VocMUOWqXg7DAGXNAFtbtxq4Cf2L7P9_g1CO4Ny97-ObyE_BVike939d7j9xk10byVPhZteJPXDKR-YWB6QZEdA7w4Tys/s1600-h/DSC_0067-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB8NLm8ScLexJohjlOtv6Ri5UlzjMDmyyWn7jcuRE7FsOKG2VocMUOWqXg7DAGXNAFtbtxq4Cf2L7P9_g1CO4Ny97-ObyE_BVike939d7j9xk10byVPhZteJPXDKR-YWB6QZEdA7w4Tys/s400/DSC_0067-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207400841917277922" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We could walk up and down the watchtowers and along the walls with no one watching us - the policy for the ruins seemed to be "explore at your own risk". Edward took a few risks himself by rock climbing onto some of the higher ledges while Yekta, Zoe, Kristina and I stayed below (this was at the top of a five story tower:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWjmWzrWPDGr30xby08SC4FtuoQZbWtiwRf-Bcnd2cCurHC_wUlaeRDr3KBO8KyEcuA9FXGRsISBQe0rdsr9Ozj8pMYFAqjnqQosDvHQC7T209OnQniWF_vxvegJK1OYDMJCuoBCB29E/s1600-h/DSC_0025-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDWjmWzrWPDGr30xby08SC4FtuoQZbWtiwRf-Bcnd2cCurHC_wUlaeRDr3KBO8KyEcuA9FXGRsISBQe0rdsr9Ozj8pMYFAqjnqQosDvHQC7T209OnQniWF_vxvegJK1OYDMJCuoBCB29E/s400/DSC_0025-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207399819715061458" border="0" /></a><br />And here's another of some weird people I don't really know trying to spell Turks on top of the castle keep:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ik-vNq5RAcb6urrw9ZenIwk3vOewwnfxQc7uJXiDUJVuPCqoU_oBuhQTtombwWAln33QzC4gPKNeizm9sFrJMDqemHYYuALqv01ugqOLW6-DMmoFW67RS2BktyLfeiCBPSmRSKrea0s/s1600-h/DSC_0062-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Ik-vNq5RAcb6urrw9ZenIwk3vOewwnfxQc7uJXiDUJVuPCqoU_oBuhQTtombwWAln33QzC4gPKNeizm9sFrJMDqemHYYuALqv01ugqOLW6-DMmoFW67RS2BktyLfeiCBPSmRSKrea0s/s400/DSC_0062-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207405244258756338" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After the fort, we started walking along the walls themselves. Along some stretches, the walls had been reconstructed to look as they did during the Byzantine period; in other parts, the walls were decrepit and home to homeless men and cats. We walked for a long time, stopping to get lunch, then got to a really cool restored part of the wall - here's Edward, Emily, Zoe and I on it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGxHHiOhU1MeaSQU_4Ij3BSU9ydfV7o9MNvldXEsdLBmIXQU4G2vCTTiIxNPJJs5TieIXL8D47IywtDoJ8ZAZBwVnWlOD3St9HOJg8HKjpCDgYfGjqjIyV4UUeXKGm05GWvzJIjNo4UlQ/s1600-h/DSC_0091-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGxHHiOhU1MeaSQU_4Ij3BSU9ydfV7o9MNvldXEsdLBmIXQU4G2vCTTiIxNPJJs5TieIXL8D47IywtDoJ8ZAZBwVnWlOD3St9HOJg8HKjpCDgYfGjqjIyV4UUeXKGm05GWvzJIjNo4UlQ/s400/DSC_0091-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207405635100780290" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We climbed onto what must've been a five or six story watchtower with a hollow middle - in other words, there was a sheer drop of 60 feet on either side of the tower. I was more terrified than I think I've ever been. We were foolish enough to climb onto the nooks of the wall for the sake of a good picture - my legs were shaking the whole time:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62MKJOMGrGz65gjfODCb4xwyBPw20p4EZExtkTEFTqEznNxKrcNy1ws7KNo1bNRVb5hLvfRuwmGKxnGKtvh7x49mq5SL1k0VPGqQmIFH6Yx9CQ1PtjhZn0kIqy2QlHDF93U3WoZ_EKHY/s1600-h/DSC_0101-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62MKJOMGrGz65gjfODCb4xwyBPw20p4EZExtkTEFTqEznNxKrcNy1ws7KNo1bNRVb5hLvfRuwmGKxnGKtvh7x49mq5SL1k0VPGqQmIFH6Yx9CQ1PtjhZn0kIqy2QlHDF93U3WoZ_EKHY/s400/DSC_0101-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207406210626397970" border="0" /></a>We kept walking and hit up on another huge watchtower which offered probably the best view of the city. I took three pictures and molded them into a panorama shot just to capture the view:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8_mXhnzU0FF6GoK0n8yzhUA3cvj3Qug-q6aEhqZBoSvlgPNlSoktPIo2-01-zAsDHItBAtuolBEeb7xQcSwRZfCSoiIUUiCGzPJVr_ZZHsAcmo4ntWq2bcACnFAAB6_LNU5zozA7ssg/s1600-h/Panorama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 519px; height: 119px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR8_mXhnzU0FF6GoK0n8yzhUA3cvj3Qug-q6aEhqZBoSvlgPNlSoktPIo2-01-zAsDHItBAtuolBEeb7xQcSwRZfCSoiIUUiCGzPJVr_ZZHsAcmo4ntWq2bcACnFAAB6_LNU5zozA7ssg/s400/Panorama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207407481936717602" border="0" /></a><br />On the middle in the background is Sultanahmet, home to the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Yeni Camii, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul University, Beyazit tower, and more. On the right in the foreground is the wall of the tower and another mosque. In the background is the Sea of Marmara. On the left in the foreground is the wall, in the background are Galata, Istanbul's business sector, and the Golden Horn. In the far back you can get a glimpse of Asia.<br /><br />Another picture on the wall (notice the lack of handlebars):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8s8rMnSr4be_2vx9bR5yj6MDOxLyv8ExF2h-lAIM_9v2baacPCM-T14q9U7jcp0jw3HgzP6ou_VF00ZiNZuKbYsmJ1vYLOADkyOdb6mmadhr6Fllfr8MwhyUAdY3AgKQaIW3CI2K8s4/s1600-h/DSC_0145-2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP8s8rMnSr4be_2vx9bR5yj6MDOxLyv8ExF2h-lAIM_9v2baacPCM-T14q9U7jcp0jw3HgzP6ou_VF00ZiNZuKbYsmJ1vYLOADkyOdb6mmadhr6Fllfr8MwhyUAdY3AgKQaIW3CI2K8s4/s400/DSC_0145-2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207408310865405746" border="0" /></a><br />And us trying to climb down the wall, with Clayton (brown shirt) singing for inspiration:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5wxhp5UTRD_GrAXBguIg2NomOPS1uvSL-0rSMXPh47m2R_bnZjlCDA27TAt11_nIl0hW5Y4CBTDr-f2a5ZcG4oXFny__bFziF0DVqb2ZqVd2wBrhg2TGK_MSKmMqASAs2cLokqB6mAM/s1600-h/DSC_0151-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK5wxhp5UTRD_GrAXBguIg2NomOPS1uvSL-0rSMXPh47m2R_bnZjlCDA27TAt11_nIl0hW5Y4CBTDr-f2a5ZcG4oXFny__bFziF0DVqb2ZqVd2wBrhg2TGK_MSKmMqASAs2cLokqB6mAM/s400/DSC_0151-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207408697412462402" border="0" /></a><br />Part of the reason I liked walking along the walls so much is that it took us into very different types of neighborhoods - we definitely traveled through middle and lower class neighborhoods the entire way. Sections of the wall along the nicer neighborhoods were restored, while the wall was neglected and gratiffitied along the lower income sections, in some areas serving as places to dump and burn stuff:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPGYdain1i3wVs3gxl3QLVem7F7qz6cACzozDPIZ-sfZzpTFUiyUEWVU02B7dUmJdZCnTBZtdCkY4wE5Jfh-tolHYtGg73YAgdbexTy7mU8dgenmSZaUWGv-OPSmf5RtKfTaf2ABJIQ4/s1600-h/DSC_0111-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEPGYdain1i3wVs3gxl3QLVem7F7qz6cACzozDPIZ-sfZzpTFUiyUEWVU02B7dUmJdZCnTBZtdCkY4wE5Jfh-tolHYtGg73YAgdbexTy7mU8dgenmSZaUWGv-OPSmf5RtKfTaf2ABJIQ4/s400/DSC_0111-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207410179176179538" border="0" /></a><br />Another part of the reason I loved going along the walls was that we got to explore these ruins that very few tourists visit and fewer walk. It was really exciting to try to figure out how to get from one section to the next without having to backtrack. Here's a picture of Kristina and Edward trekking on part of the wall:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WuuZz6phlgQnEk244qK3OzJETH-NCh9VnDKcCo2itK2CNH-avoUO7fyIjeeAQKb0EY7LU1I73ubxsS95ehXX1x79BuA8R-GI3PBdPFdZqw-3dUGvFR-GyXkPx4TX8WXWLrKsdJq3eGI/s1600-h/DSC_0114.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6WuuZz6phlgQnEk244qK3OzJETH-NCh9VnDKcCo2itK2CNH-avoUO7fyIjeeAQKb0EY7LU1I73ubxsS95ehXX1x79BuA8R-GI3PBdPFdZqw-3dUGvFR-GyXkPx4TX8WXWLrKsdJq3eGI/s400/DSC_0114.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207410183471146850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We finally got to the end of the walls at around 4:45 - six hours and forty five minutes after we started. Needless to say, the walls made quite an impression.<br /><br />Finally, we saw the grave of the oldest person in the world:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGJFCZ4QLWixKUWRttund9yGzFNR7uEnwSlLkbBSKwk4gxlSDmFkVyac83Pwvd_hX2kPZAmlhFWlCJ6swSOTk7I6jwRLs-ye4Qwcsz2vBqzyx7BdBxB4pXq6O_oYTaVY3vnqbWrlPC_Q/s1600-h/DSC_0160.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGJFCZ4QLWixKUWRttund9yGzFNR7uEnwSlLkbBSKwk4gxlSDmFkVyac83Pwvd_hX2kPZAmlhFWlCJ6swSOTk7I6jwRLs-ye4Qwcsz2vBqzyx7BdBxB4pXq6O_oYTaVY3vnqbWrlPC_Q/s400/DSC_0160.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207412485573617522" border="0" /></a><br />And that's that for now. More later this week on last weekend's epic adventure to Bursa!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-50186439581964612022008-06-01T11:27:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:08.234-08:00Rest of the WeekSo it's the end of the week - time is flying by. I'll do a short recap of the week starting after Topkapi Palace.<br /><br />Tuesday:<br /><br />A Turkish musician and historian came over to the apartment and we watched a documentary on trains and how they were indicative of Ottoman modernization. Then we had a discussion about some of the readings we'd had about organization of Istanbul. We had dinner at Professor Shields' and William's apartment and had Mexican food - a good change from the doner we've been eating every day.<br /><br />Wednesday:<br /><br />We went to an art museum that is opposite the Blue Mosque beside the Hippodrome. It used to be the palace of the Ottoman Grand Vizier, a sort of Prime Minister for the Sultunate. Most of the art was very practical - art was painted or molded onto doors, Korans, furniture, swords, and carpets. Here are some pictures:<br /><br />An ornately decorated version of the Koran:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrF3iyIcUwMCCAJF10mc0FefSYyBU2iGwfag0VIucq-hdZuaMd_056eEFLsSrk8FjmJaEZyCnTO5k1vtFixMpTt9y6-e9TjlP5EBz60iPUvjLlVWEYb2NJJfiFqSQ-7anwSH-4efkGG54/s1600-h/DSC_0143_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrF3iyIcUwMCCAJF10mc0FefSYyBU2iGwfag0VIucq-hdZuaMd_056eEFLsSrk8FjmJaEZyCnTO5k1vtFixMpTt9y6-e9TjlP5EBz60iPUvjLlVWEYb2NJJfiFqSQ-7anwSH-4efkGG54/s400/DSC_0143_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207021244117722770" border="0" /></a><br />The view from the Grand Vizier's balcony:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHND736G1aChYjq9UyYuDy96PRZgHY7rkNOaZrepAXzXp1xzNRioVKzp1_4QbZWlwYGHAIP6MRtNT-9gfpjCsAVHMAyY6D7yLmBMkOD7mS_0aBBBBqvUrbVOb7sF3ykvZJLJxDbRecwc/s1600-h/DSC_0163_1-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdHND736G1aChYjq9UyYuDy96PRZgHY7rkNOaZrepAXzXp1xzNRioVKzp1_4QbZWlwYGHAIP6MRtNT-9gfpjCsAVHMAyY6D7yLmBMkOD7mS_0aBBBBqvUrbVOb7sF3ykvZJLJxDbRecwc/s400/DSC_0163_1-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207023030824117922" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Looking at an old Mosque door covered in decoration:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYA2CDGKpUyNDpJhkDU3niHsgxm5OqE6Zeq9BDfRf1YleVgnHJq0-JZ1h5fRoi3sdzVLCLdObIfCGE09QG582U2DufHnerYWiiLys3nr586epKofqINyencbX8TJN6BfDmjaTl2nCFHsQ/s1600-h/DSC_0135_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYA2CDGKpUyNDpJhkDU3niHsgxm5OqE6Zeq9BDfRf1YleVgnHJq0-JZ1h5fRoi3sdzVLCLdObIfCGE09QG582U2DufHnerYWiiLys3nr586epKofqINyencbX8TJN6BfDmjaTl2nCFHsQ/s400/DSC_0135_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207023451730912946" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Thursday:<br /><br />We boarded the ferry to Kadikoy and then a bus to Sabançi (pronounced Sa-ban-chi) University. Most of the universities in Turkey are public and thus free - all that is required is that you pass a very rigorous exam at the end of high school. Unlike in the States where you can choose your major, the results of the entrance exam determines where you will go: higher scores allow you to go into fields like medicine and law, whereas lower ones will get you into technical and vocational schools. Sabançi is a small private university that is unlike those schools, however, and the students there can choose from multiple fields like languages and engineering. Professor Shields arranged for us to go and meet with a class of Turkish university students our age, and all of them were very nice and welcoming. They gave us a presentation in English about Turkish life and culture and then led us to lunch, where one of the students even paid for my lunch. Over lunch, we talked about language, summer, politics, food, universities, soccer and more. Over the day we became friends with them and joked about stuff - we even arranged to meet with them in Istanbul at a future date to be determined and exchanged numbers. Here are some pictures of their university and of us:<br /><br />Their University Library:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZJMhwJHkCqdxP32qftMHWCwYlq84dVBjocCAsK49yCvqRUmPrg_XJ6j-8MXZRsUTZSTbd9wlo3Jw6oqzTPaitTiUuTCFrRej9qYXCevhSD1VbeYiubnX3ETA_BE8gySHpctBIPEeiRg/s1600-h/DSC_0190.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWZJMhwJHkCqdxP32qftMHWCwYlq84dVBjocCAsK49yCvqRUmPrg_XJ6j-8MXZRsUTZSTbd9wlo3Jw6oqzTPaitTiUuTCFrRej9qYXCevhSD1VbeYiubnX3ETA_BE8gySHpctBIPEeiRg/s400/DSC_0190.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207021231232820850" border="0" /></a><br />The group of us in their gym:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFWtDkO4sV-4BWmBmV2H6z1TeceXnHQzCYixib9Bv2uSLOH0M5fDgTr61dOm0jSHPx_qBz_N-8u2umyso0gPDtx3-1MPGHBh1O_d8k8sU19vIldXUb82YDTjhTMzpzrDXcOQYa0v_utI/s1600-h/DSC_0193-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEFWtDkO4sV-4BWmBmV2H6z1TeceXnHQzCYixib9Bv2uSLOH0M5fDgTr61dOm0jSHPx_qBz_N-8u2umyso0gPDtx3-1MPGHBh1O_d8k8sU19vIldXUb82YDTjhTMzpzrDXcOQYa0v_utI/s400/DSC_0193-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207021239822755458" border="0" /></a>Though Sabanci was very nice and modern (it was built in the last 10 years), the campus seemed to be lacking in something. Amanda (one of the girls on the trip) later pointed it out to me: the campus was sterile. Although they did have a nice fountain area with cafes and their dorms were very nice (with maid service!), their was no real character to the buildings of their university. Maybe it's just because I go to UNC, but it seems that the campus was just lacking in that essentialness that makes many universities in the States and elsewhere so special - that feeling that draws you back years after you've graduated. Hopefully Sabanci will be able to create its own feel for its students in the future.<br /><br />Friday:<br /><br />We went to the Medresesi and discussed the effects of World War I and of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the country. Ataturk is a fascinating man that I've learned more and more about as the time goes on... look for a blog post about him later on. After our class, we had another Turkish lesson with Hande, our instructor, who has given us some very useful phrases for carrying out conversation in Turkish.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-72530418846291776882008-05-29T11:54:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:09.532-08:00Topkapi PalaceI haven't updated in a while, so I'll fill all you reading in on the stuff I've been doing the last week. As I said, we went to Topkapi palace on Monday. Topkapi palace was built in 1465 in the years following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in 1453 (by the way, today is the 555th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of the city, and the city is celebrating it through with fireworks and music). The Ottoman sultans decided to build the palace to be removed from the city, so he situated at the end of the Sultanahmet peninsula (see map). Obviously, the city has built around the palace, but the grounds still include dozens of acres of green grass including a park built alongside of it. Here's a picture of the palace model:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqh9W9HmDNSmi7v22VTa1NDtb7685bW_06OWulzoXPv1dhVol-VXmUUgOSkHTk2-_OyOMDcZGHKI6W6MQVfb1IfZtGUK2EvHFkDg5VymGlY9sMuoTpO8l-at0qMdSmbUiH7MCBmgL8KgM/s1600-h/DSC_0001.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqh9W9HmDNSmi7v22VTa1NDtb7685bW_06OWulzoXPv1dhVol-VXmUUgOSkHTk2-_OyOMDcZGHKI6W6MQVfb1IfZtGUK2EvHFkDg5VymGlY9sMuoTpO8l-at0qMdSmbUiH7MCBmgL8KgM/s400/DSC_0001.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205881914917410226" border="0" /></a><br />The Topkapi palace is structured around different courtyards. The outermost courtyard, which comprises of the stables and the gardens, is the most accessible to outsiders. As you move in from courtyard to courtyard, things start getting more and more restrictive. After the third gate, only the sultan and his close advisors are allowed in. Here's a picture of our guide Leslie Pierce, an Ottoman period historian from Princeton, guiding us through the third gate:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpKccjrgBp6cw5-GvrcosnxFJ3WYx5zfuonZugK91Pv0tGHPQw262n0lLf18HCK6FiHO0DbYhjKO_8-FL3eYFeBdYLCoxaAeyoww73MNfUbMbOW8aiq_4B3uhHm0ObNI3iO46QjdgJyc/s1600-h/DSC_0018_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpKccjrgBp6cw5-GvrcosnxFJ3WYx5zfuonZugK91Pv0tGHPQw262n0lLf18HCK6FiHO0DbYhjKO_8-FL3eYFeBdYLCoxaAeyoww73MNfUbMbOW8aiq_4B3uhHm0ObNI3iO46QjdgJyc/s400/DSC_0018_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205933450229994946" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This most private section of the palace was called a harem in which only the sultan and a few other men could enter; harem in English has the connotation of a group of women devoted specifically to the sultan; in reality, the harem is a very private, isolated section which was only accessible by certain women. Women were allowed into the palace after some time but lived in a specifically designated area labeled, of course, the harem. The women of the harem were "protected" from the outside world by African eunuchs who lived right inside the harem entrance. Here is a picture of the entrance of the womens' harem, with the eunuchs' quarters on both sides:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJnTAKglzLl7xl2MZ43M4X8lRFKz2ojBlkoKnQtLm7HL4rVorGmPhjI2vBludvXC6Ea9EymAtqwOAyewlUHZByr4YwXy7F6hSW2ZZbmmwk0jto-KouHbCy5IbjF4vSKE5_COmn2yl7g/s1600-h/DSC_0065_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FJnTAKglzLl7xl2MZ43M4X8lRFKz2ojBlkoKnQtLm7HL4rVorGmPhjI2vBludvXC6Ea9EymAtqwOAyewlUHZByr4YwXy7F6hSW2ZZbmmwk0jto-KouHbCy5IbjF4vSKE5_COmn2yl7g/s400/DSC_0065_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205934545446655442" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The eunuchs could only go so far into the harem. After that point, the only male allowed in the harem was the sultan. He had a secret entrance from his own harem in the third courtyard, and even shared a bathroom with the queen mother, who was in charge of the women of the harem. This is the famous "living room" of the harem where the women hung out:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgN29lGXewY_TEkNFJMxQhBGHWKgZp9kwgdSQNnHSnomHLjm0oc4f7Pg8Ej2IL5WEm7ltRlo5OiEPEdazyXTY3zstg2FdCHumRZpenKk_V3GnFA17vHW2uyUsJQT0VG9UjEnLqL3D1s_c/s1600-h/DSC_0077_1-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgN29lGXewY_TEkNFJMxQhBGHWKgZp9kwgdSQNnHSnomHLjm0oc4f7Pg8Ej2IL5WEm7ltRlo5OiEPEdazyXTY3zstg2FdCHumRZpenKk_V3GnFA17vHW2uyUsJQT0VG9UjEnLqL3D1s_c/s400/DSC_0077_1-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205935309950834146" border="0" /></a><br />The rooms inside the harem were very elaborate and beautiful, and the decoration for the administration rooms was very ornate, but overall the palace was very bland in comparison to other European palaces I've visited. Interestingly, most of the fine art and detail went into mosques like the Blue Mosque and Sulemaniye because it was considered more appropriate to decorate public spaces. Another room in the palace:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTmkd8bnyvPrq7Ij6qdvD-AP5X453iuk9-7WHfl2sOReW6-H_4fu1iOqmcUO73Ozn-oRBCdKHHLOe83bMcnD49E9pQps-VAb_nnRMTUZHJyOY80Oasxg2ea2n2fZRtlQ3PLR6I5y-5FI/s1600-h/DSC_0099_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTmkd8bnyvPrq7Ij6qdvD-AP5X453iuk9-7WHfl2sOReW6-H_4fu1iOqmcUO73Ozn-oRBCdKHHLOe83bMcnD49E9pQps-VAb_nnRMTUZHJyOY80Oasxg2ea2n2fZRtlQ3PLR6I5y-5FI/s400/DSC_0099_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205936516836644338" border="0" /></a><br />The part of the palace I thought was most interesting was a special set of rooms in the third courtyard which housed relics of Islam, Christianity and Judaism obtained through Ottoman expansion into Egpyt. Among the things we saw were David's (as in David and Goliath) sword, Moses' rod (as in the one he parted the Red Sea with), the arm of John the Baptist, Muhammed's footprint and beard, and Jacob's saucepan. Here is Muhammed's sword and bow:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFaWiwY5PR5RD37uDCYlEJFNiVkIum_BikxSc1DBE795twnhLdDbo7LnvZXnxd7iocuOSL92JfC_Efc21_INC1JzIX6kC-JA7U8TDiJLekJulV8YE3-4WVdJprLcI63wezhJ5zu1gbVE/s1600-h/DSC_0062_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFaWiwY5PR5RD37uDCYlEJFNiVkIum_BikxSc1DBE795twnhLdDbo7LnvZXnxd7iocuOSL92JfC_Efc21_INC1JzIX6kC-JA7U8TDiJLekJulV8YE3-4WVdJprLcI63wezhJ5zu1gbVE/s400/DSC_0062_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205937526153958914" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Obviously, most of us were very skeptical that all these objects had survived and were in the Sultan's private collection - I mean, Jacob's sauce pan... really? But Professor Shields' told us to take the objects as they were, not really to question their legitimacy but to accept that the Ottomans (and contemporary visitors) see these artifacts as the real deal. It was all very interesting.<br /><br />But anyway, I'll wait to go into more of the stuff that I've done this week tomorrow - this post is long enough as it is. Here are some more pictures - enjoy.<br /><br />The entrance to the administrative center of the empire:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-Q-1TCYWeHK3aBfPi9u1xWsggwR5S1hkQhWEtWdjBg1nhm7dBtT487YQ2ek4eN-DzKFydKfomqY4HJ5NTzmS8IF7698Geb1_umqma-GFlSZCneAQkO4WLi4Y-aE7_-eIzYVIninJ-1Y/s1600-h/DSC_0035_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-Q-1TCYWeHK3aBfPi9u1xWsggwR5S1hkQhWEtWdjBg1nhm7dBtT487YQ2ek4eN-DzKFydKfomqY4HJ5NTzmS8IF7698Geb1_umqma-GFlSZCneAQkO4WLi4Y-aE7_-eIzYVIninJ-1Y/s400/DSC_0035_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205939420234536482" border="0" /></a><br />A side view of the third courtyard overlooking the Bosphorous.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8avNUEfKvxs8__cwcYaSwY7y_ThZce8udT5ylBESKn9k1tdgu-FahFKnpGSmL-_fZkQDmQ0t2FIzmms0cgT3Y9nwYYW78AM1zdCJkEZtWAc5OkQJKRP5pgBjE0NcnuDJZzRC6QQu4wjM/s1600-h/DSC_0048_1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8avNUEfKvxs8__cwcYaSwY7y_ThZce8udT5ylBESKn9k1tdgu-FahFKnpGSmL-_fZkQDmQ0t2FIzmms0cgT3Y9nwYYW78AM1zdCJkEZtWAc5OkQJKRP5pgBjE0NcnuDJZzRC6QQu4wjM/s400/DSC_0048_1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205939411644601874" border="0" /></a><br />The dome inside the relics museum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tiOetlLteL4EWeE7ZPlLgVsi9SZ_YtC4PNmpHI1hr-DBV2FERBwFRkGfXwzkfZc5AuigNSVU5uigY2hRgYwcDdPQoVJfznwfPXukNCGBm31S8OuGPiAmw3TFRlpla1t7gUdBpmYTCbs/s1600-h/DSC_0060_1-1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tiOetlLteL4EWeE7ZPlLgVsi9SZ_YtC4PNmpHI1hr-DBV2FERBwFRkGfXwzkfZc5AuigNSVU5uigY2hRgYwcDdPQoVJfznwfPXukNCGBm31S8OuGPiAmw3TFRlpla1t7gUdBpmYTCbs/s400/DSC_0060_1-1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205939424529503794" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-78681877333552631932008-05-26T13:48:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:10.005-08:00A Geography LessonI realized while I was talking to my mom on the marvelous free Internet phone service we like to call Skype that I was describing all these places to her (and you, whoever you are that is reading this) through words but had not really given a good image of the lay of the land. So I went onto Google Maps and created and labeled my own set of maps with places of interest to me and you that I have talked about in these blogs. The first image is a broader picture of Turkey so you can locate yourself (all pictures are from Google Maps - click on the picture to see it in full size):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AzqaFfc4gCOScqCxRv2p13m9QwOSZoNqwp9DRFUqJQ9m4WVB3pDWhZTOOjBLiGvyA6luGSLulJCuoK1qrkjf7KDcVkTWXA0eOuaw1Yn9tocf4nGTjQrQf3Wv892TvWhSWiZhN-Y64ts/s1600-h/Turkey+map.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AzqaFfc4gCOScqCxRv2p13m9QwOSZoNqwp9DRFUqJQ9m4WVB3pDWhZTOOjBLiGvyA6luGSLulJCuoK1qrkjf7KDcVkTWXA0eOuaw1Yn9tocf4nGTjQrQf3Wv892TvWhSWiZhN-Y64ts/s400/Turkey+map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204794742730674754" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see, Turkey is divided into two sections: Thrace and Anatolia. The bulk of the country is in Anatolia, the Asian side. Istanbul proper is located in Thrace, the European side, though much of the city spreads to the Asian side as well. The Bosporus Straight, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea, separates the two sides of Istanbul. The Golden Horn, the small river-like inlet that winds its way on the left side of the map, separates the districts of Sultanahmet from Galata. Historically, Galata was the section of the city where the Europeans lived, while the Ottomans with their monuments and palaces inhabited Sultanahmet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihp02y7ySeg1oBMgc2WhdUOE7AYTWk04Kb5sbj8DJL0spTJFMRNB7LLPda-tCS-gNhjZfOvpq8iagOTotJF6mNQ3nM4n1heZtWlxr4rgTJ9KcF05R6NaxTZh93dTR4VvK9Wj1l3xbVOa4/s1600-h/Map+1+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihp02y7ySeg1oBMgc2WhdUOE7AYTWk04Kb5sbj8DJL0spTJFMRNB7LLPda-tCS-gNhjZfOvpq8iagOTotJF6mNQ3nM4n1heZtWlxr4rgTJ9KcF05R6NaxTZh93dTR4VvK9Wj1l3xbVOa4/s400/Map+1+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204795395565703762" border="0" /></a>I live with my classmates in Galata, as indicated on the next map. The windy red line indicates the tram which we take us to Sultanahmet across the Galata Bridge. The major mosques and places of interest are indicated.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyE0mPF84cReZRjcNGEwspUmpLcm08T4o8ij0F13LxTdHyvzIyERQS6qSu8lR5JY-WvHV4ZPREKR7u31yLc-JtQsBRU99uVeQSo0UPYyZGdfgficCyixiXzvks8ZPokmeRTm6oxG25p7k/s1600-h/Untitled-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyE0mPF84cReZRjcNGEwspUmpLcm08T4o8ij0F13LxTdHyvzIyERQS6qSu8lR5JY-WvHV4ZPREKR7u31yLc-JtQsBRU99uVeQSo0UPYyZGdfgficCyixiXzvks8ZPokmeRTm6oxG25p7k/s400/Untitled-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204800420677440130" border="0" /></a>Here is a picture I've put up before taken from our apartment in Galata looking over at Sultanahmet - you should see most of the stuff from the picture labeled.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincE85uhp2gJbjdhZfdBFRov0KuRu-UYbQiotcVNnCq0rTED1L71t8cTyhRTP0UNDy9MBg9YLf4O3_klOQCSdykgHpLWzl9gGiQtBdpNaqybTng4guSCiYAZ2BWMi8JdHHE37SdZlOsS8/s1600-h/panorama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincE85uhp2gJbjdhZfdBFRov0KuRu-UYbQiotcVNnCq0rTED1L71t8cTyhRTP0UNDy9MBg9YLf4O3_klOQCSdykgHpLWzl9gGiQtBdpNaqybTng4guSCiYAZ2BWMi8JdHHE37SdZlOsS8/s400/panorama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204799643288359538" border="0" /></a><br />And finally, a picture of Beyoglu and its subsection Galata with corresponding labels:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFlGmwI4Lz6-B45PWRfJS8BJwKYboEIh9BEFoD2efxL5KgyUwaDd9w5cB18aTi8lEhRcgfhRJpuz0G65N65DaxfDA0N22Hpdq747uhx3w6KYuozJJyifxtD-R_gOPTcKYazI_doddhW8/s1600-h/panorama+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 403px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFlGmwI4Lz6-B45PWRfJS8BJwKYboEIh9BEFoD2efxL5KgyUwaDd9w5cB18aTi8lEhRcgfhRJpuz0G65N65DaxfDA0N22Hpdq747uhx3w6KYuozJJyifxtD-R_gOPTcKYazI_doddhW8/s400/panorama+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204801898146189970" border="0" /></a><br />The map images are from Google Maps, but I added the labels. Visit www.maps.google.com.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-27465153398206224642008-05-25T07:10:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:10.970-08:00Weekend RoundupSo I'm finally getting around to writing this after several days of putting it off - we've been so busy, it's been hard to find time to just sit and relax. Here's a summary of what I've been doing:<br /><br />Thursday we met the Medresesi Caferaga, an old Ottoman university turned art school that is right next to the Hagia Sophia. The room we had class in was a dorm room for students centuries ago. We talked about our first week, our blogs, then delved into the more intricate details of trying to figure out what it was that made the Ottoman Empire collapse.<br /><br />Friday we went to the Covered Bazaar (the famous Grand Bazaar),<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07R4oEYG74_d0zt5DpyXsTbGww6Lm_vw6E-YQ5v03efWX523i-PPET9ajkvc9B0bGG-D07f9j5SRsHET83WxqHFTAv3J0GFwkQ3qiBjvIVj_Gmn3QVKevqbbvFXpBfUrcQiIr1xW8l4U/s1600-h/DSC_0080.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07R4oEYG74_d0zt5DpyXsTbGww6Lm_vw6E-YQ5v03efWX523i-PPET9ajkvc9B0bGG-D07f9j5SRsHET83WxqHFTAv3J0GFwkQ3qiBjvIVj_Gmn3QVKevqbbvFXpBfUrcQiIr1xW8l4U/s200/DSC_0080.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204349006729728418" border="0" /></a> or Kapali Carsi in Turkish. It is one of the largest covered bazaars in the world with more than 4000 shops and an estimated 400,000 visitors a day. The bazaar was not what I expected it to be - although it certainly was busy, it didn't have the same hustle-and-bustle atmosphere with weird smells and people yelling at you as the Spice Bazaar which is down the street - it reminded me more of an American mall, albeit 550 years old. Sellers offered objects as far ranging as fine gold and silver, Turkish carpets, tourist mementos, fake Lacoste and Polo shirts, antiques like Ottoman-era coins and lamps, sunglasses, crystalware, soccer jerseys, headscarves, and more. We went into Adnan and Hasan, a carpet seller who knows Sarah, our professor, and he went into great detail about the different types of carpet, the knots that go into each one, the different sizes and styles, the symbolism in each design, the regions different types of carpet come from, and more. It was really a good experience, and I might go by and buy a carpet myself before I leave. Here's a picture of us in the shop learning about Turkish carpets over tea:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBwpaZq5_uGGUNPrfh_XSzDYNZW6oULt7vx38QQe_o3zYXpt8awICbmLin1zUV1pdXkKFwYwshlwI1ujLk28XTveTDoZvow1gDxl8uGILr-FNm9T5ktL1T2YCkeeNZyaQvKyUJ0H5N18/s1600-h/DSC_0060.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBwpaZq5_uGGUNPrfh_XSzDYNZW6oULt7vx38QQe_o3zYXpt8awICbmLin1zUV1pdXkKFwYwshlwI1ujLk28XTveTDoZvow1gDxl8uGILr-FNm9T5ktL1T2YCkeeNZyaQvKyUJ0H5N18/s400/DSC_0060.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204351068314030530" border="0" /></a>After that, we went to the Mederesesi again, this time to visit with a calligrapher who explained his craft. He also drew our names in the Arabic script that looks more like art designs than a written language. The calligrapher said that it takes a good five years to learn the how to do calligraphy and a lifetime to really understand it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvr-ER_3ozzIjddYHvI74uWdlYKaLAi4YPcDg5zcR-ztZb6_PVy1C1v4ydV6EFGOzsn6aahrwcPgTesmtR8Q0ImQelGBnaafcmtzCIhNjNCtuLdUPAuk5qM7kYhV_2O9ZH_vqeMNfH1s/s1600-h/DSC_0065.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvr-ER_3ozzIjddYHvI74uWdlYKaLAi4YPcDg5zcR-ztZb6_PVy1C1v4ydV6EFGOzsn6aahrwcPgTesmtR8Q0ImQelGBnaafcmtzCIhNjNCtuLdUPAuk5qM7kYhV_2O9ZH_vqeMNfH1s/s320/DSC_0065.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204356209389883890" border="0" /></a>Saturday night was our first real night experiencing Turkish nightlife - or at least what we could afford of it. Turkey is a Muslim country and thus there is some social pressure to tone down drinking here, so taxes on alcohol are very high. In addition, Turkey's parliament just passed another law saying that all alcohol must be kept in its original container - a serious blow to bars who keep their beer on tap. Nevertheless, what we saw of Turkish nightlife was impressive - Istaklal, a street just up the block from our apartment building, hosts dozens if not hundreds of bars, restaurants and clubs that keep going till six in the morning (from what I've heard). Turks have two drinks here: Efes, a local beer that has a monopoly on the market, and Raki, a licorish flavored drink that is mixed with water. I had a sip of raki and thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted, but Turks like it, so I guess that's all that matters. Anyway, we hit up a discoteque on Istaklal for a bit which played only techno, and then decided it was all too overwhelming and headed back home.<br /><br />Saturday was a lazy day. I made my way back to the Grand Bazaar with Kevin and Clayton determined to get a good deal on a fake Lacoste shirt I had seen earlier. Unlike the salesmen in China, though, these vendors were a difficult bunch to haggle with. Some priced their shirts at $50 -- I wanted to get it at $8. And so the process began. I visited one shirt vendor after another (they are all on the same street, so it wasn't too difficult) and tried to get them to bring the price down. One man cussed me out when I told him I didn't want to pay $20 for a fake shirt, and others just said no to me when I told them my price. After more than an hour, I finally got a shirt for $10 - a bit above my price, but it was a decent shirt and the guy who sold it to me was nicer than most.<br /><br />Today (Sunday) we went over to the Asian side to watch the Red Bull Flugtag - a kind of show where people build "flying devices" and run them off a large platform and see how far they get before they crash in the water. It really ended up being a show to see what would be the most spectacular crashes. Here are some pictures:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwnef_RhW8-xK4pORcC_Q_mxhy3DsNRBm0wbg1ivbdN2yI43wveMZmVMsC1O5Rs0LV5a2U2xLGMo_Apt27W_GlWtDIBC2_a1HsHW_Q_ADebAbyl3j4kon8LmYehqG78Um-lz6YkcmUhI/s1600-h/DSC_0152_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAwnef_RhW8-xK4pORcC_Q_mxhy3DsNRBm0wbg1ivbdN2yI43wveMZmVMsC1O5Rs0LV5a2U2xLGMo_Apt27W_GlWtDIBC2_a1HsHW_Q_ADebAbyl3j4kon8LmYehqG78Um-lz6YkcmUhI/s400/DSC_0152_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204418426286133778" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrGfre2A8WPSqIJq75htSFDJx_iqtyLIsvQzSRYEKuBZXphGX7Jk908nfKDEM3HOD5QWhOEhmagWYaekcXTzqzGqT15XAv8pO3IPhBatdYTfyLg1t4xmxgRWtz_13HiLsFXQlDPY6bXM/s1600-h/DSC_0139_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcrGfre2A8WPSqIJq75htSFDJx_iqtyLIsvQzSRYEKuBZXphGX7Jk908nfKDEM3HOD5QWhOEhmagWYaekcXTzqzGqT15XAv8pO3IPhBatdYTfyLg1t4xmxgRWtz_13HiLsFXQlDPY6bXM/s400/DSC_0139_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204418988926849570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKpp7kwJcZwjkcv4V7SB0Z0ywZfEI_hsihzl2-ukD_6-JQeVIiOUwLCAoD7TSdDVOBXFycKnGZ_RRAqrzZFPFnYaaf9ZD2Awv07u0htHwHOq2LdJGGRtsAyaobh0VJRj9A5N9VF55yEY/s1600-h/DSC_0110_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKpp7kwJcZwjkcv4V7SB0Z0ywZfEI_hsihzl2-ukD_6-JQeVIiOUwLCAoD7TSdDVOBXFycKnGZ_RRAqrzZFPFnYaaf9ZD2Awv07u0htHwHOq2LdJGGRtsAyaobh0VJRj9A5N9VF55yEY/s400/DSC_0110_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204418417696199170" border="0" /></a><br />A look at the crowd - there were tons of ships out there, too.<br /><br />And I guess that's all for this week - tomorrow I head to Topkapi palace, home to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. More later!<br /><br /><br />P.S.<br /><br />For those who watch Lost out there, look who I found on the side of a building in an ad for Turkish ice cream:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSzkGkqEQlLcJh8v8f9APpsiOYicsuohtvsJuncgLKkbHJqctUXMBJ1oZVWyivlSKRAqIcw37JzrPBsdKEvBFFDRfSVw1daMsM_6Em60cP8GHmm1UzG5cRejx6q7zSjhg1E6EBHGW-ag/s1600-h/DSC_0157_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiSzkGkqEQlLcJh8v8f9APpsiOYicsuohtvsJuncgLKkbHJqctUXMBJ1oZVWyivlSKRAqIcw37JzrPBsdKEvBFFDRfSVw1daMsM_6Em60cP8GHmm1UzG5cRejx6q7zSjhg1E6EBHGW-ag/s400/DSC_0157_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204428351955554866" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-77864556960909758382008-05-22T09:08:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:11.586-08:00Scavenger HuntYesterday we went on a scavenger hunt spanning two continents - still hasn't gotte<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgZsXEJbUM0-xyGmPEg_TGmV8ThBKu1xKO9xMFmUZFDp1k7Cf__oyQlPYIuBk_mEkErHLzYz8x-RUhYciElzf4ThK1pTsHIMzBJShxCRHDtjnjXG5Qv4DTgcAqc6HNk9qweXvG7z_rSk/s1600-h/DSC_0017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgZsXEJbUM0-xyGmPEg_TGmV8ThBKu1xKO9xMFmUZFDp1k7Cf__oyQlPYIuBk_mEkErHLzYz8x-RUhYciElzf4ThK1pTsHIMzBJShxCRHDtjnjXG5Qv4DTgcAqc6HNk9qweXvG7z_rSk/s320/DSC_0017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203243705486037122" border="0" /></a>n old saying that. We met at the base of the Galata tower and Professor Shields gave us a list of things we had to get pictures of. The whole time that we were doing the hunt random people would come up to us and ask us what we were looking for, and then they took the time to look at our list and explain what was where. I was amazed by how nice people were. One restauranteur took us to the top of his building to show us a view of a palace we were looking for, and a British woman went down the list and translated all the stuff in Turkish we had to find. We first got pictures of the numerous orange juice sellers that abound throughout the city. They squeeze the oranges right in front of you and it only costs a lira. We also got pictures of various fruit from the fruit sellers. Then we went over to Sultanahmet, where we had to get pictures of the Hagia Sophia and Kaiser Wilhelm fountain. A lot of the stuff we couldn't find in our guidebooks or maps so we relied on people's advice for where to find them. It took us a good 45 minutes to figure out that we had walked past the Kaiser Wilhelm fountain twice before we noticed it. We went into the Topaki palace grounds for the first time, but we couldn't get into the actual palace without paying a fee. Instead I took a picture with this happy looking young man - the palace guard:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEwXf6efbDoIHwA2n46TGWOUtb65maBWOL3x2A3KnPTQyW9OJOLEJivqwUdobjjCG_wIcUWJSyn1gqsYGH2-VvSMYwYAiKdO-htLM4pOZgJkPjlLFNukTI_6qki5D1tMw2qXSYdodIDM/s1600-h/DSC_0026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 480px; height: 348px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEwXf6efbDoIHwA2n46TGWOUtb65maBWOL3x2A3KnPTQyW9OJOLEJivqwUdobjjCG_wIcUWJSyn1gqsYGH2-VvSMYwYAiKdO-htLM4pOZgJkPjlLFNukTI_6qki5D1tMw2qXSYdodIDM/s400/DSC_0026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203246527279550610" border="0" /></a>It's kind of like the Royal Guard in England. After that, we visited Suleymaniye mosque, a few tram stops away. We then proceeded to get lost in the endless market streets of Istanbul - hungry, thirsty, and without a clue about where we were, we were very miserable. We walked around for about 45 minutes before we found out where we were - here's a picture from where we were when we were lost in the hills of Istanbul.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbb1tmHryitEQkL144G2z1Fu69KVtN2isvFLUI7T4jAgpMS1DhJCZFLpNsp30upSmnlilhP6rED_9jonp0GK6Rnb8rmvaatxRfVMg0CBr2-tRYMAko1lc6P1MOa7i9jB1GuSxMv4Ez8CA/s1600-h/DSC_0040.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbb1tmHryitEQkL144G2z1Fu69KVtN2isvFLUI7T4jAgpMS1DhJCZFLpNsp30upSmnlilhP6rED_9jonp0GK6Rnb8rmvaatxRfVMg0CBr2-tRYMAko1lc6P1MOa7i9jB1GuSxMv4Ez8CA/s400/DSC_0040.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203251479376842930" border="0" /></a><br />After we photographed the last things on the European side, we took off for the Asian side. There we stopped by the train station, Hydrapasa. We got on a train (wile it was leaving, we saw a a vendor of simit (pretzel like bread) running to get onto get onto the moving train with a table full of simit and in the process dropping half its load - we all laughed) thinking it would take us to the ferry stop - it instead deposited us inland. We were ready to despair until Kelly recognized that the parking lot we were in was the grounds for the vegetable market we had been in the previous day. We completed the day in Asia with our last task - getting a ice cream cone. We made it back to the European side with an hour to go till the end of the task. It was a grueling, exhausting day, but the stories it gave us made it worth it in the end.<br /><br />I leave you with this picture that I took - a dusk panorama shot from our terrace of Sultanahmet. Click on it for a better look.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivEQ1WTGjGUnx3QIcrl00-aTSf9qKKQQy-s8D6oAD8LQ5gj-fmmsFW8TatD8y6p2RTdiRN-y-qVhyphenhyphendHEBH1r6KdEsj1x4NPvamnqmJvrofehFv4vvkKrDZ3pon8fXNoAHROc8yGW9oOg/s1600-h/DSC_0003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 537px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivEQ1WTGjGUnx3QIcrl00-aTSf9qKKQQy-s8D6oAD8LQ5gj-fmmsFW8TatD8y6p2RTdiRN-y-qVhyphenhyphendHEBH1r6KdEsj1x4NPvamnqmJvrofehFv4vvkKrDZ3pon8fXNoAHROc8yGW9oOg/s400/DSC_0003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203323518863298754" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-41679047380991198152008-05-20T14:13:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:11.699-08:00Night LandscapePicture from the terrace at night - thought it was cool. The Golden Horn is the river separating Galata from Sultanahmed, the historic district. On the left is the Hagia Sophia, on the right the Blue Mosque.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gxuk1ix5Rvoo9IhovwB4PEHkHBX_Xzb3wavnbwMiL564Eu827_UrsyoApFgCQTmZ2Iqx6pOAqMQO9zJTt8MMTiSqn7-6fWn3EZYv_yG0FD21wObTn2wNRjlqfm3m8is4vKoeEYu6mZI/s1600-h/DSC_00102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gxuk1ix5Rvoo9IhovwB4PEHkHBX_Xzb3wavnbwMiL564Eu827_UrsyoApFgCQTmZ2Iqx6pOAqMQO9zJTt8MMTiSqn7-6fWn3EZYv_yG0FD21wObTn2wNRjlqfm3m8is4vKoeEYu6mZI/s400/DSC_00102.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202573001275039730" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-66026700383532641142008-05-20T08:22:00.001-07:002008-11-12T23:43:12.252-08:00A trip to AsiaToday we all got on a ferry and crossed over to Asia. After we got over the fact that we were crossing from continent to continent in the span of twenty minutes (well, strike that, I'm still not over that), we sat and enjoyed the ride over. Here's a picture from the ferry looking back at another ferry with Sultanahmet in the background:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCOlcJ9VAs04ZaT1kKDA4fRDYi6rZuZ8O57JVcWWyUYpEHVjeJQ5ffj32FxB_sc49JG2_1gH5ifXW7fDwLIginh38V0J6fGG4mJcts5fh8y_Hd_x1NtTe6Jq_kEupkfTAJ35PznfyZLQ/s1600-h/DSC_0288.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 520px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCOlcJ9VAs04ZaT1kKDA4fRDYi6rZuZ8O57JVcWWyUYpEHVjeJQ5ffj32FxB_sc49JG2_1gH5ifXW7fDwLIginh38V0J6fGG4mJcts5fh8y_Hd_x1NtTe6Jq_kEupkfTAJ35PznfyZLQ/s400/DSC_0288.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202489885067927474" border="0" /></a>After that walked through thousands of people to the biweekly clothes and vegetable market. The markets were kind of overwhelming, a lot like what I saw in China. These markets were for Turks, though, so I feel like we got much more of an authentic Turkish experience out of it. We stopped at one stall with what looked like floating white circles in a bucket of water. Yekta told us they were artichoke hearts, eaten with lemons. They were actually pretty good:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor1_Tr3jYRODtRfhE9CWvOvBVMq9eJs85ukP3q442uSJAWVyvURqnhVudAa0RI13sQcGhCijIY1MZGWapjJzTHOgq4lUF1m01Y-t_IGYHfPuHOrsOnLJITEzC0kxJQJG2get9PmoG9qU/s1600-h/DSC_0315.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgor1_Tr3jYRODtRfhE9CWvOvBVMq9eJs85ukP3q442uSJAWVyvURqnhVudAa0RI13sQcGhCijIY1MZGWapjJzTHOgq4lUF1m01Y-t_IGYHfPuHOrsOnLJITEzC0kxJQJG2get9PmoG9qU/s400/DSC_0315.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202493024689020866" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After making our way through the markets, we got some rest at a local cafe and then headed back to them to buy vegetables for dinner. We then went back to Europe - and nope, it still hasn't gotten old saying that. Got a good view from the ferry of Galata - our neighborhood. Our apartment is near the base of the Galata tower on the left.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOovbblqLKyEGxbGKlN1msLz7_A1-MxtB4hDbKhZo7fBvWnn720_EL35-ss6Ny0OLCHeTpkHblXrgXYm7lZt_4rJTi1fme60oxxnPW2cEJKz_4_wkMe7OZqFnssI_S2YAw2uayShbRlI/s1600-h/DSC_0285.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 545px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOovbblqLKyEGxbGKlN1msLz7_A1-MxtB4hDbKhZo7fBvWnn720_EL35-ss6Ny0OLCHeTpkHblXrgXYm7lZt_4rJTi1fme60oxxnPW2cEJKz_4_wkMe7OZqFnssI_S2YAw2uayShbRlI/s400/DSC_0285.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202495704748613602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A look at the market:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDaUWKcYtZp30m6QSaLD3csCxG-i3Hh_xnYJ3OZXdJgFMXnqI-KWQwCE349UfLTvnUDuJSmLN5iIgQtnI6VM7rxuW7H_b82WKkGPJlTrLQER83r-4xuvnKCl9h6vR391h5klEhAJ6vi8/s1600-h/DSC_0309.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDaUWKcYtZp30m6QSaLD3csCxG-i3Hh_xnYJ3OZXdJgFMXnqI-KWQwCE349UfLTvnUDuJSmLN5iIgQtnI6VM7rxuW7H_b82WKkGPJlTrLQER83r-4xuvnKCl9h6vR391h5klEhAJ6vi8/s400/DSC_0309.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202494742675939282" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2907009266601464774.post-14931814856943146742008-05-19T14:17:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:43:13.202-08:00First ImpressionsTurkey is everything I wanted it to be. I don't think in all my travels that I have been more excited than I was coming into the country from Munich, and with all I've experienced since then it has only gotten better. The apartment and, more specifically the view, is perfect. The minarets and domes of Sultanahmet are amazing- I don't think I have ever seen a more incredible skyline than that. Going through the mosques and hearing and seeing Muslims at prayer and the calls to prayer was an intense experience in and of itself. The area is touristy and people can be nagging in their approaches at trying to convince you to buy something or eat somewhere - one guy persisted in asking me where I'm from, saying "you Japan?" , "you Greece", and "you Korea". I said no each time. I just can't believe I'm here.<br /><br />I had an interesting conversation with Kevin and Zoe as we took a break from walking through the Istiklal street close to the apartment about national Turkish identity. From what we talked about, it seems like we're going to have some really interesting discussions throughout this trip.<br /><br />Here are some pictures from the first couple of days:<br /><br />The view from the airplane. (Click on the pictures to see a full resolution version)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2YhdRslYBGRezVu8c3XHlzCxdstKm_U0kbZ0B9__Lq1zGDlJllYF1F4EWiAigmBXLHo2tXzQ0kYOXWLYvvGOVVbAeCz9tCCqbUy7EtS01yTOCkSGiEOxjgwz9LiNZLnYS1JEt6l2EUw/s1600-h/DSC_0130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 460px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2YhdRslYBGRezVu8c3XHlzCxdstKm_U0kbZ0B9__Lq1zGDlJllYF1F4EWiAigmBXLHo2tXzQ0kYOXWLYvvGOVVbAeCz9tCCqbUy7EtS01yTOCkSGiEOxjgwz9LiNZLnYS1JEt6l2EUw/s320/DSC_0130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202204836678426466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The view from the apartment.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0RXXM7LHoHTHaBX__VA_jvf80b3UkTlDUwC1iX8yJnh2i5_Jj7_gtnWr7wrRlT-qlqN6_dVOW5f49QkOOK-yWOmr3XapbSMBtid9uvxs-LQS9NlBFawLgn-cGr5l27QHv2keOelc0H8/s1600-h/DSC_0149.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 511px; height: 337px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0RXXM7LHoHTHaBX__VA_jvf80b3UkTlDUwC1iX8yJnh2i5_Jj7_gtnWr7wrRlT-qlqN6_dVOW5f49QkOOK-yWOmr3XapbSMBtid9uvxs-LQS9NlBFawLgn-cGr5l27QHv2keOelc0H8/s320/DSC_0149.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202208809523175282" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Blue Mosque<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswPNWnhyphenhyphentzK41WYXY8qhwMRgix46IigCswkqmMnMOHlRzA13kJVJUp3HuP0OaIXMzcVcLUZU0UZNVx0TFJybwHiiUJR3_Ry8HocwxfCepvL6GrupKbAyL8gi1rkiKRC5AnAKmJUWbBmU/s1600-h/DSC_0269.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 329px; height: 496px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswPNWnhyphenhyphentzK41WYXY8qhwMRgix46IigCswkqmMnMOHlRzA13kJVJUp3HuP0OaIXMzcVcLUZU0UZNVx0TFJybwHiiUJR3_Ry8HocwxfCepvL6GrupKbAyL8gi1rkiKRC5AnAKmJUWbBmU/s320/DSC_0269.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202209552552517506" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Blue Mosque at night:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKDdw6WT2bjbZWpmyrP4Qw8g3MKdCO2ByCfljHWGi1MIS_YHPXnYF3mp4sv6ao9FkEZO4kQKtfIxzRBymxY0r8Wsv1nWgBacRjd2Ip4BVUeStuOfkzWY4wRZ4xrQqIvXVhCsrfSir2iA/s1600-h/DSC_0208.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKDdw6WT2bjbZWpmyrP4Qw8g3MKdCO2ByCfljHWGi1MIS_YHPXnYF3mp4sv6ao9FkEZO4kQKtfIxzRBymxY0r8Wsv1nWgBacRjd2Ip4BVUeStuOfkzWY4wRZ4xrQqIvXVhCsrfSir2iA/s400/DSC_0208.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202212219727208338" border="0" /></a><br />Inside the Blue Mosque<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRRiG9WxjN0Dw4Yf3uVUQegyh3m7MfjSrdYzqPkJ6Fe87MYoiVZefS9QL2S5R_IqEoVDURJJr1QFOy8M8If8oYwt_I7XakYdrw4j8lbXLf8VTyBHNfA8GwsEl8FChxWXe3itj_EuSJhM/s1600-h/DSC_0282.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRRiG9WxjN0Dw4Yf3uVUQegyh3m7MfjSrdYzqPkJ6Fe87MYoiVZefS9QL2S5R_IqEoVDURJJr1QFOy8M8If8oYwt_I7XakYdrw4j8lbXLf8VTyBHNfA8GwsEl8FChxWXe3itj_EuSJhM/s400/DSC_0282.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202213250519359394" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485336049485014269noreply@blogger.com0