On June 8, a group of family and friends flew in to put to
end my peaceful, recouping few weeks of summer and start an adventure.
Among the line-up of newcomers were my mom and dad, my dad's sister Judy, and
mom's sister Judy and husband Ted, and neighbors Bob and Linda. They flew
in for a two-week trek around Turkey with Grand European Tours. Among the
group, only my mom had been to Turkey before. As we were whisked around
the country, we did the best to absorb all the information our tour guide had
to give us, but really couldn't. Turkey has so much history and amazing
sights, as much as we tried, by the end we were having trouble keeping all the
facts straight. Anyone who sticks up their nose at a visit to Turkey, I
hope you see some of the many reasons visitors fall in love with this
country. Every tourist I know that has ventured over here has left
so happy that they made that decision to come.
The following is a more detailed summary of the trek.
July 8-10 - Istanbul
My parents arrived late July 8, after a grueling trip here. Flight time direct Chicago to Istanbul: 10.5 hours. Not quite a short jump in the plane. Add a missed lay-over like they did, then lost luggage, not exactly a dream trip, but they arrived with smiling faces and tried to make the most of it. Linda was the one with the missing luggage and little did we know she would not be getting it for another ten days.
On July 9, we set out for some of the big sights of Istanbul. We started at Topkapı Palace, the home of the Sultans for about 400 years. Before getting into the history of Topkapı, it helps to know the history of Istanbul and Anatolia (Turkey). The earliest people lived in this part of the world. They were nomads. When nomads decided to settle down and call one land their home, they first did that in Turkey, making Turkey home to the oldest settlement. Eventually different nationalities and empires starting forming and tried calling Turkey or parts of Turkey theirs. Greeks came over and created settlements starting thousands of years BC (you know Homer's Troy...that is in Turkey). Then the Romans came in and spread their influence, establishing a capital along the important Bosporus which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. This capital, which they called Byzantium, is current day Istanbul, my home for now. The Romans (or Byzantines as they were called in this area) ruled for a long time. In the mid-1400s, their empire strength was waning and another group came in. These people had migrated from Central Asia as nomads. They brought a new culture and language with them (interestingly, the language most similar to Turkish is Japanese). In the 1450s, these nomads, the Turks, took over Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople, and the Ottoman Empire was born. This empire would rule Turkey and its surrounding neighbors until its collapse at the end of World War I. The Republic of Turkey rose out of this demise, under the leadership of World War I War General Mustafa Kemal, nicknamed Ataturk, the father of the Turks.
So back to Topkapı, this palace was built by the new Turkish victors starting in 1459. It housed the Sultan and his family, the Harem (which included many ladies from around the empire who were taught the refined ways of being a lady and serving men), janissaries (the brightest boys from captured land brought in to be taught and trained by the Ottoman Turks), and the many other workers at the palace complex. The complex is built with the model of the Forbidden City in mind, with each gate allowing you access to a more intimate place within the palace. Only certain people were allowed into each layer. The palace treasury is there, housing ludicrously huge diamonds, jade, and rubies. The famous Topkapi dagger, the object of focus in the movie “Topkapi” is one of the many treasures there.
We then headed to the famous Basilica Cistern, built by the Romans in the 6th Century AD with columns taken from Greek pagan temples. It can hold up to 2.8 million cubic feet of water. We then walked over to the Grand Bazaar (also called the Covered Bazaar) and walked through the maze of shops. By this point, the group seemed to be in sensory overload so we just wandered without stopping, looking from afar at the silk and imitation scarves, pottery, rugs, and jewelry, avoiding the aggressive sellers.
After this long half day, I convinced the group to venture over to the Asian side with me for a quieter set of surroundings compared to the bustling Old City. We took the ferry over to Kadıkoy and walked through this quaint area of the city. Here, the feeling of Istanbul is still there, but the pace is down a few notches. We walked by the olive, fish, and nut sellers and settled in for the local beer, Efes (not my beer of choice, but the visitors drank like fish, sucking up this local specialty the whole trip) at an outdoor fish restaurant.
The next day, we hit the remaining two biggies, the Aya Sofia (or Hagia Sofia) and Blue Mosque. The Aya Sofia is a magnificent structure. Built in the first century AD as a Christian church, it remained the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. When the Turks conquered Istanbul, it was converted to a mosque. Today, it stands as a museum. Christian icons that had been covered up by the Muslim Turk (human images are not allowed in mosques, hence the intricate tile work that mosques are known for) have been rediscovered and now both sides of the place of worship are visible. We then ventured just next door to the famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The mosque, known more familiarly as the Blue Mosque due to its beautiful blue Iznık tiles, was built in the 1600s. Although this mosque is recognized for its amazing architecture, the architect met his end shortly after the completion due to the fact that the neighboring Hagia Sofia still towered over it.
After this tour, the group and I went up to Robert College for a quick tour of my home. They saw the beautiful Bosporus view our location on the hill offers, and a chance to experience both the traffic and insane yet remarkable taxi maneuvering through it.
July 11 - Canakkale
We left this morning from Istanbul and headed down the Gallipoli Peninsula. Here, the geography of the terrain made this area very important, and deadly. When Turkey entered World War I, it cut off the only warm water port the Russians had to connect them to their Allies. This entry was the Bosporus, which then further south turned into the Dardanelles Straits. The Allies tried to fight and win this from the Turks, but failed. In some places, opposing trenches were just several yards from each other. Today, there are beautiful war tributes to those who have fought and died here on both sides of the war.
We next ventured over to the ancient city of Troy. Most well-known from this area is the Homer's Trojan Horse. Shockingly, this horse most likely never did exist seeing that there is no other source that cites it. What is true from Homer's Troy is that it was a strongly fortified ancient civilization located on the sea. The Trojans made their money by charging high taxes to traders coming in from sea. When the nearby river silted up the land, making their city no longer on the sea, the city’s power was lost.
That evening, we stayed in the city of Canakkale, located on the entrance of the Dardanelles not far from ancient Troy. My parents and I met up with one of my students İpek and her family. We walked down the main street where the Trojan Horse from the Hollywood movie Troy is located.
July 12 - İzmir
We left Canakkale and our first stop was Pergamon, another ancient city of Anatolia. This city was located high on the hill, overlooking the surrounding countryside, for security purposes. A gondola took us to it. We walked around the ancient temples and theater (theaters are built into the hill; amphitheaters are built up, like the Parthenon). We then went down to the first mental hospital in the world. That night we stayed at the beautiful seaside city of İzmir.
July 13 - Pamukkale
We left early from İzmir for famous Ephesus. This old city is in amazing condition. Trade was a significant part of its livelihood which was visible by its two large agoras (markets). Clay pipes ran underground creating a working sewage system. Even a public toilet stood in the center of town; the toilet seats sitting one next to the other still look inviting to sit on, especially after some of the toilets we ran to along the trip. The most impressive structure in the city was the library, which housed an extensive collection of books until Alexander the Great moved these books to Alexandria to please his sweetheart Cleopatra.
Not far from the city is the supposed house of Mary, place where John took her after Jesus' death. We stopped by the now chapel and headed to lunch. Lunch here was kebap and gozleme, a savory pancake/crepe. Most Turkish food is grown and raised in Turkey so there is very little food import. Fresh fruits and vegetables are common. Breakfast and dinner buffets display an array of these olives, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, melons, cherries, little bananas, and peaches. Meat, though, is usually the central dish. There is much lamb, beef, and chicken. Kebap is very common and it really is just a spiced meat. You can then get more specific. Şiş (shish) kebap will be meat on a stick with sometimes some vegetables (just like what we know). Döner kebap is like gyro meat, that stuff that you see spinning around on a big stick that they shave off. Adana kebap gets its name from the region and is a spicy spiced meat that comes as a long hot dog shape. On the side are usually a hot pepper, bulgur, and yogurt. Notice that one meat that is non-existent here is pork. With a country that is 99% Muslim, pork is rarely seen at restaurants and very hard to find and expensive in a big city like Istanbul.
July 14-16 - Antalya
We started the day touring Hierapolis, the ancient city of Pamukkale. One may have seen the pictures of these beautiful cascading white natural baths. These cascading baths were created by the natural springs which contain plenty of calcium carbonate, hence creating these beautiful white pools. The ancient people realized the importance of these springs, created a city around the natural springs for drinking water, and the luxurious and healing spa you see today. It is said that Cleopatra came here to seek out the healing qualities of these waters.
We then continued on past the sunflowers, groves of olives, gypsum mines (one or two in our travel group were on the look-out for these), oranges, lemons, apricots, little bananas, and melons to Perge, located just outside of the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. Perge was another ancient city. We took a look around at the race track/gladiator stadium, market (even saw a store sign showing the stand was a butcher!), and Roman bath.
We stayed for the next three nights in Antalya, at a hotel right on the Mediterranean. The soaring heat kept us in the air conditioning often, but we made it out some to see the sights and get thirsty enough to climb to the top for daily Happy Hour. I played it easy these days, lounging at the pool and seaside as the group visited sights I had already seen such as the Sunken City of Kekova, Saint Nicholas’ Church (yes, he’s from here too!), the beautiful seaside ancient city of Phaselis, and the world-renowned Antalya Archeological Museum.
July 17 - Konya
We left Antalya this morning and headed to the nearby ancient city of Aspendos. Aspendos has a beautifully preserved theater which is still in use for concerts and dance performances. The magnificent structure has such great acoustics that you could stand at the top level (which was quite high), and here someone simply talking on the stage clearly.
We then headed to Konya, which is a modern day city known for its conservatism and being the home of the Sufis or Whirling Dervishes. We stopped at two madrasahs, religious schools, which were beautifully painted and designed. We then headed to the Seljuk Mevlana Monastery, where wannabe whirling dervishes go to train and live and hopefully enter the religious practice of the Whirling Dervish.
July 18-20 - Cappadocia
We left Konya and headed to the area of Cappadocia along the famous Silk Road. During the Silk Road’s prime, government officials in towns like Konya built structures called Caravan Sarays to encourage traders to come along the route. Caravan Sarays were modern day inns for the traveling packs, places where travelling tradesmen could sleep for the night, feed themselves and their camels (which were the double humped species, now quite rare, the only camel that could have made such a trek), and provide protection from thieves lurking along the path. We visited one such Saray, which had high walls to keep out unwanted guests, large enclosures for the important guests (camels, not traders), and mosque.
We continued down the route, keeping a lookout for Turks still keeping the nomad lifestyles, living with their herds in the cooler elevation. We headed into the entirely new landscape of Cappadocia, shaped by earth and man to be like no place else. An ancient giant volcano at spewed lava over this area. It spewed hard lava over some areas, but also a porous, breathable, soft rock called tufa over others. There it lay for a while, being carved out by the natural elements for quite some time. Some locals found that this tufa rock could easily be carved out to create caves. Early Christians, during times of persecution in Anatolia, found that these rocks created the perfect hide-out for them. They created intricate underground cities to run to when needed, with kitchens, store-rooms, and rock doors to slide over if a certain area is infiltrated. We explored one such city, walking within the little rooms and through the hallways that were carved out over a thousand years ago. Upon exiting, we were met by local women who were eager to sell us their unique handmade dolls, which I found myself a sucker to and bought four...of which I have no idea what I will do with!
The next morning, I with my dad, Bob, Linda, and Aunt Judy woke up at 4AM for a balloon ride over the area, something a have been told is a must-do. And it is. Words cannot describe it; pictures can only kind of start. It was an unforgettable experience. We watched the sun come up over the moon-like landscape. We practically touched caves that are still being used as houses today. We soared over the pointed rocks, carved caves, and many vineyards of the area. Eventually we came down to a somewhat hard thud and celebrated with a mimosa the fine journey.
The rest of the day we spent stopping at various photo stops of the area and the outdoor museum of Goreme where 6th Century Christians carved out chapels into the rock, the rich murals still visible.
The next morning we stopped at a rug-making cooperative before heading out of Cappadocia for Ankara. I bought my first Turkish carpet, my parents funny enough bought one quite similar to me, after shopping completely separately from each other. Guess you sometimes just can’t fight family genes. Both carpets are beautiful. We then headed to Ankara, where we stopped at the famous Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which unfortunately was under construction. Despite that, it had some amazing early Madonna statues and Hittite friezes. We then headed to the Mausoleum of Ataturk, a stunning memorial for their revered Turkish founder. Among Ataturk’s accomplishments was the almost astonishing victory of Gallipoli, putting him in the national spotlight; creation of the non-secular Republic of Turkey, first President of the Republic, and switch from the Arabic to Latin script (script we use) for the Turkish language. He is a man held to an almost God-like status among the Turks; his bust and image found everywhere in Turkey.
Conclusion:
We finished our journey back to Istanbul. It was a terrific trip, but only the start of adventure for me. I followed my family back to the States to spend about three weeks visiting various past homes. I must say, it is sure nice to be back. At the airport, I was immediately struck by the order of the place, something I miss dearly. Lines that people obeyed. No growing frustration as I saw Turk after Turk cut in front, helpless of what to say, like it would actually help. I happily spent my lay-over in Newark at the airport bar, drinking long missed beer (pilsner is about all you can get in Turkey, nothing close to my preferred pale ale). I struck up a conversation with someone next to me, and realized how much I have missed this. In Turkey, when I am traveling alone, I am really alone. There rarely is someone next to me who can speak my language. You don’t realize how much this means to you until you no longer have it. I also found such lightness on my shoulders just being here. Everything is just so easy. Getting around in Istanbul, knowing very little of the language, there is always an extra element that things can go wrong and it won’t be easy to solve. If I hop on the wrong bus in Turkey, there is the huge problem of what do I do now, and often time no one to talk to except with my broken Turkish.
That being said, I am so happy that Istanbul is my home right now. I know after three weeks I’ll be ready to return to the madness of the place. One of the many pieces that I have taken from my life abroad is how proud I am of where I come from. The United States does have its problems, as any place does. Overall, there are many things we as Americans take for granted that really does not exist everywhere. Rights for women, gays, foreigners (yes, definitely not everywhere in the US, but there do exist large pockets with a great amount of acceptance). As a whole, we are an open, accepting group of people, eager to learn about different cultures, foods, and people. There are many environmentally-conscious forward-looking Americans as well as huge numbers of generous people willing to give to the numerous charities. I am proud to tell others that I am American and really have found that most people are happy to hear I am. One thing that is important to remember is that when we meet foreigners, we are ambassadors of our country. Just as I learn about Turks from each Turk I meet, foreigners are looking at you to see what Americans are like. That, coupled with the fact that I have an additional sympathy for the difficulties of being in a foreign land, makes me much more willing to reach out and help a foreigner. Think about that next time you run into one, and try to have some patience with language barriers because trust me, it is much more frustrating not being able to express yourself than being on the other side and not understanding.
The following is a more detailed summary of the trek.
July 8-10 - Istanbul
My parents arrived late July 8, after a grueling trip here. Flight time direct Chicago to Istanbul: 10.5 hours. Not quite a short jump in the plane. Add a missed lay-over like they did, then lost luggage, not exactly a dream trip, but they arrived with smiling faces and tried to make the most of it. Linda was the one with the missing luggage and little did we know she would not be getting it for another ten days.
On July 9, we set out for some of the big sights of Istanbul. We started at Topkapı Palace, the home of the Sultans for about 400 years. Before getting into the history of Topkapı, it helps to know the history of Istanbul and Anatolia (Turkey). The earliest people lived in this part of the world. They were nomads. When nomads decided to settle down and call one land their home, they first did that in Turkey, making Turkey home to the oldest settlement. Eventually different nationalities and empires starting forming and tried calling Turkey or parts of Turkey theirs. Greeks came over and created settlements starting thousands of years BC (you know Homer's Troy...that is in Turkey). Then the Romans came in and spread their influence, establishing a capital along the important Bosporus which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. This capital, which they called Byzantium, is current day Istanbul, my home for now. The Romans (or Byzantines as they were called in this area) ruled for a long time. In the mid-1400s, their empire strength was waning and another group came in. These people had migrated from Central Asia as nomads. They brought a new culture and language with them (interestingly, the language most similar to Turkish is Japanese). In the 1450s, these nomads, the Turks, took over Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople, and the Ottoman Empire was born. This empire would rule Turkey and its surrounding neighbors until its collapse at the end of World War I. The Republic of Turkey rose out of this demise, under the leadership of World War I War General Mustafa Kemal, nicknamed Ataturk, the father of the Turks.
So back to Topkapı, this palace was built by the new Turkish victors starting in 1459. It housed the Sultan and his family, the Harem (which included many ladies from around the empire who were taught the refined ways of being a lady and serving men), janissaries (the brightest boys from captured land brought in to be taught and trained by the Ottoman Turks), and the many other workers at the palace complex. The complex is built with the model of the Forbidden City in mind, with each gate allowing you access to a more intimate place within the palace. Only certain people were allowed into each layer. The palace treasury is there, housing ludicrously huge diamonds, jade, and rubies. The famous Topkapi dagger, the object of focus in the movie “Topkapi” is one of the many treasures there.
We then headed to the famous Basilica Cistern, built by the Romans in the 6th Century AD with columns taken from Greek pagan temples. It can hold up to 2.8 million cubic feet of water. We then walked over to the Grand Bazaar (also called the Covered Bazaar) and walked through the maze of shops. By this point, the group seemed to be in sensory overload so we just wandered without stopping, looking from afar at the silk and imitation scarves, pottery, rugs, and jewelry, avoiding the aggressive sellers.
After this long half day, I convinced the group to venture over to the Asian side with me for a quieter set of surroundings compared to the bustling Old City. We took the ferry over to Kadıkoy and walked through this quaint area of the city. Here, the feeling of Istanbul is still there, but the pace is down a few notches. We walked by the olive, fish, and nut sellers and settled in for the local beer, Efes (not my beer of choice, but the visitors drank like fish, sucking up this local specialty the whole trip) at an outdoor fish restaurant.
The next day, we hit the remaining two biggies, the Aya Sofia (or Hagia Sofia) and Blue Mosque. The Aya Sofia is a magnificent structure. Built in the first century AD as a Christian church, it remained the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. When the Turks conquered Istanbul, it was converted to a mosque. Today, it stands as a museum. Christian icons that had been covered up by the Muslim Turk (human images are not allowed in mosques, hence the intricate tile work that mosques are known for) have been rediscovered and now both sides of the place of worship are visible. We then ventured just next door to the famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The mosque, known more familiarly as the Blue Mosque due to its beautiful blue Iznık tiles, was built in the 1600s. Although this mosque is recognized for its amazing architecture, the architect met his end shortly after the completion due to the fact that the neighboring Hagia Sofia still towered over it.
After this tour, the group and I went up to Robert College for a quick tour of my home. They saw the beautiful Bosporus view our location on the hill offers, and a chance to experience both the traffic and insane yet remarkable taxi maneuvering through it.
July 11 - Canakkale
We left this morning from Istanbul and headed down the Gallipoli Peninsula. Here, the geography of the terrain made this area very important, and deadly. When Turkey entered World War I, it cut off the only warm water port the Russians had to connect them to their Allies. This entry was the Bosporus, which then further south turned into the Dardanelles Straits. The Allies tried to fight and win this from the Turks, but failed. In some places, opposing trenches were just several yards from each other. Today, there are beautiful war tributes to those who have fought and died here on both sides of the war.
We next ventured over to the ancient city of Troy. Most well-known from this area is the Homer's Trojan Horse. Shockingly, this horse most likely never did exist seeing that there is no other source that cites it. What is true from Homer's Troy is that it was a strongly fortified ancient civilization located on the sea. The Trojans made their money by charging high taxes to traders coming in from sea. When the nearby river silted up the land, making their city no longer on the sea, the city’s power was lost.
That evening, we stayed in the city of Canakkale, located on the entrance of the Dardanelles not far from ancient Troy. My parents and I met up with one of my students İpek and her family. We walked down the main street where the Trojan Horse from the Hollywood movie Troy is located.
July 12 - İzmir
We left Canakkale and our first stop was Pergamon, another ancient city of Anatolia. This city was located high on the hill, overlooking the surrounding countryside, for security purposes. A gondola took us to it. We walked around the ancient temples and theater (theaters are built into the hill; amphitheaters are built up, like the Parthenon). We then went down to the first mental hospital in the world. That night we stayed at the beautiful seaside city of İzmir.
July 13 - Pamukkale
We left early from İzmir for famous Ephesus. This old city is in amazing condition. Trade was a significant part of its livelihood which was visible by its two large agoras (markets). Clay pipes ran underground creating a working sewage system. Even a public toilet stood in the center of town; the toilet seats sitting one next to the other still look inviting to sit on, especially after some of the toilets we ran to along the trip. The most impressive structure in the city was the library, which housed an extensive collection of books until Alexander the Great moved these books to Alexandria to please his sweetheart Cleopatra.
Not far from the city is the supposed house of Mary, place where John took her after Jesus' death. We stopped by the now chapel and headed to lunch. Lunch here was kebap and gozleme, a savory pancake/crepe. Most Turkish food is grown and raised in Turkey so there is very little food import. Fresh fruits and vegetables are common. Breakfast and dinner buffets display an array of these olives, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, melons, cherries, little bananas, and peaches. Meat, though, is usually the central dish. There is much lamb, beef, and chicken. Kebap is very common and it really is just a spiced meat. You can then get more specific. Şiş (shish) kebap will be meat on a stick with sometimes some vegetables (just like what we know). Döner kebap is like gyro meat, that stuff that you see spinning around on a big stick that they shave off. Adana kebap gets its name from the region and is a spicy spiced meat that comes as a long hot dog shape. On the side are usually a hot pepper, bulgur, and yogurt. Notice that one meat that is non-existent here is pork. With a country that is 99% Muslim, pork is rarely seen at restaurants and very hard to find and expensive in a big city like Istanbul.
July 14-16 - Antalya
We started the day touring Hierapolis, the ancient city of Pamukkale. One may have seen the pictures of these beautiful cascading white natural baths. These cascading baths were created by the natural springs which contain plenty of calcium carbonate, hence creating these beautiful white pools. The ancient people realized the importance of these springs, created a city around the natural springs for drinking water, and the luxurious and healing spa you see today. It is said that Cleopatra came here to seek out the healing qualities of these waters.
We then continued on past the sunflowers, groves of olives, gypsum mines (one or two in our travel group were on the look-out for these), oranges, lemons, apricots, little bananas, and melons to Perge, located just outside of the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. Perge was another ancient city. We took a look around at the race track/gladiator stadium, market (even saw a store sign showing the stand was a butcher!), and Roman bath.
We stayed for the next three nights in Antalya, at a hotel right on the Mediterranean. The soaring heat kept us in the air conditioning often, but we made it out some to see the sights and get thirsty enough to climb to the top for daily Happy Hour. I played it easy these days, lounging at the pool and seaside as the group visited sights I had already seen such as the Sunken City of Kekova, Saint Nicholas’ Church (yes, he’s from here too!), the beautiful seaside ancient city of Phaselis, and the world-renowned Antalya Archeological Museum.
July 17 - Konya
We left Antalya this morning and headed to the nearby ancient city of Aspendos. Aspendos has a beautifully preserved theater which is still in use for concerts and dance performances. The magnificent structure has such great acoustics that you could stand at the top level (which was quite high), and here someone simply talking on the stage clearly.
We then headed to Konya, which is a modern day city known for its conservatism and being the home of the Sufis or Whirling Dervishes. We stopped at two madrasahs, religious schools, which were beautifully painted and designed. We then headed to the Seljuk Mevlana Monastery, where wannabe whirling dervishes go to train and live and hopefully enter the religious practice of the Whirling Dervish.
July 18-20 - Cappadocia
We left Konya and headed to the area of Cappadocia along the famous Silk Road. During the Silk Road’s prime, government officials in towns like Konya built structures called Caravan Sarays to encourage traders to come along the route. Caravan Sarays were modern day inns for the traveling packs, places where travelling tradesmen could sleep for the night, feed themselves and their camels (which were the double humped species, now quite rare, the only camel that could have made such a trek), and provide protection from thieves lurking along the path. We visited one such Saray, which had high walls to keep out unwanted guests, large enclosures for the important guests (camels, not traders), and mosque.
We continued down the route, keeping a lookout for Turks still keeping the nomad lifestyles, living with their herds in the cooler elevation. We headed into the entirely new landscape of Cappadocia, shaped by earth and man to be like no place else. An ancient giant volcano at spewed lava over this area. It spewed hard lava over some areas, but also a porous, breathable, soft rock called tufa over others. There it lay for a while, being carved out by the natural elements for quite some time. Some locals found that this tufa rock could easily be carved out to create caves. Early Christians, during times of persecution in Anatolia, found that these rocks created the perfect hide-out for them. They created intricate underground cities to run to when needed, with kitchens, store-rooms, and rock doors to slide over if a certain area is infiltrated. We explored one such city, walking within the little rooms and through the hallways that were carved out over a thousand years ago. Upon exiting, we were met by local women who were eager to sell us their unique handmade dolls, which I found myself a sucker to and bought four...of which I have no idea what I will do with!
The next morning, I with my dad, Bob, Linda, and Aunt Judy woke up at 4AM for a balloon ride over the area, something a have been told is a must-do. And it is. Words cannot describe it; pictures can only kind of start. It was an unforgettable experience. We watched the sun come up over the moon-like landscape. We practically touched caves that are still being used as houses today. We soared over the pointed rocks, carved caves, and many vineyards of the area. Eventually we came down to a somewhat hard thud and celebrated with a mimosa the fine journey.
The rest of the day we spent stopping at various photo stops of the area and the outdoor museum of Goreme where 6th Century Christians carved out chapels into the rock, the rich murals still visible.
The next morning we stopped at a rug-making cooperative before heading out of Cappadocia for Ankara. I bought my first Turkish carpet, my parents funny enough bought one quite similar to me, after shopping completely separately from each other. Guess you sometimes just can’t fight family genes. Both carpets are beautiful. We then headed to Ankara, where we stopped at the famous Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which unfortunately was under construction. Despite that, it had some amazing early Madonna statues and Hittite friezes. We then headed to the Mausoleum of Ataturk, a stunning memorial for their revered Turkish founder. Among Ataturk’s accomplishments was the almost astonishing victory of Gallipoli, putting him in the national spotlight; creation of the non-secular Republic of Turkey, first President of the Republic, and switch from the Arabic to Latin script (script we use) for the Turkish language. He is a man held to an almost God-like status among the Turks; his bust and image found everywhere in Turkey.
Conclusion:
We finished our journey back to Istanbul. It was a terrific trip, but only the start of adventure for me. I followed my family back to the States to spend about three weeks visiting various past homes. I must say, it is sure nice to be back. At the airport, I was immediately struck by the order of the place, something I miss dearly. Lines that people obeyed. No growing frustration as I saw Turk after Turk cut in front, helpless of what to say, like it would actually help. I happily spent my lay-over in Newark at the airport bar, drinking long missed beer (pilsner is about all you can get in Turkey, nothing close to my preferred pale ale). I struck up a conversation with someone next to me, and realized how much I have missed this. In Turkey, when I am traveling alone, I am really alone. There rarely is someone next to me who can speak my language. You don’t realize how much this means to you until you no longer have it. I also found such lightness on my shoulders just being here. Everything is just so easy. Getting around in Istanbul, knowing very little of the language, there is always an extra element that things can go wrong and it won’t be easy to solve. If I hop on the wrong bus in Turkey, there is the huge problem of what do I do now, and often time no one to talk to except with my broken Turkish.
That being said, I am so happy that Istanbul is my home right now. I know after three weeks I’ll be ready to return to the madness of the place. One of the many pieces that I have taken from my life abroad is how proud I am of where I come from. The United States does have its problems, as any place does. Overall, there are many things we as Americans take for granted that really does not exist everywhere. Rights for women, gays, foreigners (yes, definitely not everywhere in the US, but there do exist large pockets with a great amount of acceptance). As a whole, we are an open, accepting group of people, eager to learn about different cultures, foods, and people. There are many environmentally-conscious forward-looking Americans as well as huge numbers of generous people willing to give to the numerous charities. I am proud to tell others that I am American and really have found that most people are happy to hear I am. One thing that is important to remember is that when we meet foreigners, we are ambassadors of our country. Just as I learn about Turks from each Turk I meet, foreigners are looking at you to see what Americans are like. That, coupled with the fact that I have an additional sympathy for the difficulties of being in a foreign land, makes me much more willing to reach out and help a foreigner. Think about that next time you run into one, and try to have some patience with language barriers because trust me, it is much more frustrating not being able to express yourself than being on the other side and not understanding.
