I have spent a lot of time today writing about Turkey. I haven't
finished because I have also been talking to people quite a bit and
did my visit teaching. I need to go to sleep now but I thought I'd send it to you to enjoy.
I made it to Turkey and back!!! Wow! It was a long trip that passed
quickly, if you can believe it. While there, I found it difficult to
keep track of the time and which day was which. Fortunately, the
itinerary we received had the day written down, otherwise the days of
the weeks my have had to be renamed to things such as: The day we
climbed into the Trojan Horse (at least the one used in a movie) or
The Day we Rode Innumerable Hours in the Bus with many “sickies” and two barf bag incidents. . . alas, I will used the days’ formal names.
And create additional names to describe in a nutshell the highlights
(or lowlights) of the day. All in all though, it was a fun trip!
Day 1: Sunday, 16 Sept. Jerusalem to Istanbul or The Day in the Airport
The day started out on a fantastic note; a workout and watching the
BYU/Utah football game. I’ll have to admit, I found the ending of the
game a bit comical, with BYU having 3 different opportunities for a
do-over after time had expired. In honor of the Utes, I wore a red
shirt that day. Ha ha!
Really, there isn’t much to report about this day for me. We got to
the airport really early and got everybody through security. I almost
didn’t make it; apparently I look nothing like my passport picture.
I’ve always said I would make a good spy since I can fairly easily
change the perception of my appearance with straight hair, curly hair,
glasses, contacts, and hair color. The dude checking my passport
asked for another form of identification. Fortunately I was carrying
my temporary driver’s license. He thought that looked a bit sketch
because it wasn’t a card, but I made it though. Interestingly enough,
the girl who checked my passport and the way back had no problem
deciding I was the same as in my passport picture. “Same pretty
smile!” she said.
When we got to Istanbul we were ready for dinner and hotel/bed. I
remember feeling like our dinner was a Sunday dinner type of meal with mashed potatoes and a meatloaf type of thing. And I remember wishing our tour guide would stop jabbering into the mic as we rode to the hotel. I just wanted to be there and not listen to random things a
guy with a strong accent was saying. I think I was tired from being
up early. I just wanted to look out the window at the many domed
churches we passed on our way in peace. I didn’t happen but I
reconciled myself to the fact.
Day 2: Monday, 17 Sept. Istanbul or The day of crazy touring (I don’t
have a great name for this day)
The first site we visited in Istanbul is the Hippodrome which was
built around 200 AD. Hippodrome is Greek for horse track and this
venue was used for public events like chariot races, horse races, and
civic celebrations. Some predict it would have held up to 100,000
people. Having read this little bit about it before I got there, I
was quite excited to see its remnants! I guess the little detail that
the level of Constantine’s original hippodrome was 6 feet lower than it
is now should have given me indication that I wouldn’t be seeing the
actual hippodrome, but it didn’t. When we were there, standing in the
middle, I was a bit disappointed to realize that only parts of two
stone pillars remain. First, the top third of a huge pink granite
obelisk from Thutmose III (from the Karnak temple in Egypt) which was
brought to the hippodrome in Istanbul by Emperor Theodosius around 390 AD. The second was the Walled Obelisk added around 10th century AD and originally covered in gilded, bronze plaques that have long since
been plundered. I realized here (and throughout the entire trip) that
I must improve my imaginative skills to create the grandeur of ancient
structures in my head otherwise I’d be forever disappointed in ancient
ruins.
The second location we visited was the Blue Mosque or Sultanahmet
mosque. This as a beautiful place of worship decorated with, you
guessed it, blue tiles decorating the inside. It has eight domes that
cascade down from the central dome. It is really neat. This was our
first taste of middle eastern mosques and it was interesting to note
that the insides are not decorated with pictures like we are used to
seeing in Cathedrals. Instead are used artistic calligraphy. I
really wished that I could read Arabic for the symbolism seems simple
yet deep. In this mosque, there are large tablets on the wall with
the names of the caliphs (the first “leaders” of Islam after Mohammed
and verses from the Koran, also artistically written. Arabic is such
a pretty language to look at, artistic in itself. I do wish I knew
what I was looking at. (My Arabic class is a bit of a joke. I have
learned just 2 words. Sukran: thank you. And Habibi: lover. (I guess
that’s not quite true because I learned the meaning of Noor too.) One
of the things I found most interesting was learning a bit about how
Muslims pray and why they do it that way. Perhaps you have seen them
bowing with their forehead on the ground. Well, our guide talked
about how the animals are obeisant to God on all fours. Well humans,
who have higher levels of reasoning, pray with 7 points of contact
with the earth (forehead, hands, knees, and feet) to symbolize their
humility before God.
After the Blue Mosque we went to Topkapi Palace. Here are housed all
sorts of treasures: parts of Mohammed’s beard, the walking stick,
guns, swords, and turbans his close friends wore, the 86 karat
Spoonmaker’s diamond. Oh, the also had displayed Mohammed’s tooth and sword, lots of elegant jewelry, and crazy impractical clothing. There
were tons of people here! So many! It was a bit unpleasant with so
many and it made it difficult to maintain our groups of 3 people,
which honestly was kind of pleasant since that rarely happens.:)
Next we went to the Basilica Cistern. I found this to be the
coolest site of the morning. It is a huge underground cistern with
336 pillars of support the Stoa Basilica above. Some of the bases
were used from other earlier structures. Two of them feature Medusa
heads, one is upside down and the other sideways. It was dark, dank,
and drippy. It felt cool just walking around down there!
After lunch we went to the grand bazaar. While there were lots of
shops, I didn’t find it super grand. Perhaps because one you got a
feel for the wares being sold, you realized they were pretty much the
same everywhere you went. However, here I did try Turkish delight.
Annie, Neil, Nicole, and I got a ‘sample bag’ and tried the various
flavors: lemon, orange, rose, coconut marshmallow, pistachio,
pomegranate, and chocolate pomegranate. The two pomegranate flavors along with the coconut were the ones I liked best. Turkish delight is a bit like dots covered in powdered sugar. I have had them before somewhere, though I can’t seem to place it. Has Ellen made them for her assorted Christmas goodie treats? Shawn went to town getting his souvenirs from Turkey, t-shirts, soccer jerseys, and Turkish caps.
Annie was surprised by this side of Shawn. She mentioned to me a
couple of times since we have been here that she is learning all sorts
of new things about her brothers because she is seeing them in
different situations, than she gets to see in the family situation.
After the Bazaar we took a boat ride on the Bosporus. This is the
Straight that passes between the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
I think this may have been everybody’s favorite part of the day
because we could just enjoy the scenery, and water, and people without
having to run all over the place and combat the tide of many people.
We were tired after this big day!
Day 3, Wednesday 19 Sept: Istanbul to Canakkale
This was our first day in the bus and it wasn’t too bad at all. Our
morning stop was at the Gallipoli Battlefield Memorial. During WWI
there was a large battle here that resulted in half a million
casualties. The Ottomans had sided with the Central Powers (Germany
and Austria-Hungary) and were facing the ANZAKC (Australian and New
Zealand Army Corps.) Battle strategy was poorly manned by the Allies
and this resulted in, essentially, a stalemate. We learned about many
specifics of the battle, and because we were standing in the location,
it was easy to so why certain things wouldn’t work. It was my first
lesson in war tactics. Now, Australians and New Zealanders honor the
sacrifice of their country men and Turkish children learn about the
heroic deeds of Ataturk and the brave Turkish martyrs. It can be said
that the national identities of three countries-Australia, New
Zealand, and Turkey-were born here. I quite liked a quote from the
Turkish general, Kemal Ataturk, at the end of the Battle, “There is no
difference between a Johnny and a Mehmet. . .” as he described the
memorial there at Gallipoli honoring those who had fallen in battle.
In his speech, he described how the “Jonny” mothers would be weeping
over the lives of their lost sons and how the “Mehmet” mothers would
be weeping for them too.
After lunch we rode a ferry across the Dardanelle to the Asian side
of the country and drove to Troy. For those intrigued by the
archeology, this site was quite impressive because the are 9 different
settlement layers in Troy. For most of us though, this place is cool
because we associate it with the cool story of the Trojan Horse.
Cliff Notes version of the story= Paris (price of Troy) kidnapped
Helen (most beautiful woman in the world and queen of Sparta) to Troy.
The Spartans send their entire naval force to rescue the queen.
After a 10-year war, the Spartans leave the Trojan Horse at the gate
of Troy. The Trojans (what were they thinking!?) brought the horse
into the city and have an all-night party celebrating ‘their victory.’
The Spartans exit the horse, beat the Trojans, and take Helen back to
Sparta. Amongst the remains, we saw the remains of a large ramp
leading to the Citadel. Is it the ramp?! Who knows. They wouldn’t
let us stand on it and there wasn’t a horse nearby, so it lost a bit
of the drama, but honestly, what can you expect?;)
