Saturday, April 9, 2011

Turkey Photos

Hello All,

As I could obviously not include all of my photos from Turkey into the blog posts, here is a link to my Picasa Web Account with an album of all ~550 of them on there. Enjoy!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Turkey: Day IX (Istanbul)

Sunday, March 27th:

Hagia Sophia, At Night:


            My last day in Turkey! Such a sad revelation after such a wonderful and amazing adventure! We woke up early to catch our flight back to Istanbul which had been moved up an hour due to the rest of Europe going on daylight savings and Turkey deciding to wait an extra day—weird. Anyways, we got back to Istanbul around 2pm and checked-in to our new hotel, the Polat Renaissance near the airport. I would like to thank my father, Dana, here as he hooked us up with a room on the club level that overlooked the whole harbor of the city. We got settled in and decided to go to try and see the famous Whirling Dervishes (or Mevlevi Dancers) perform their Sema ceremony. After waiting over an hour for the bus to come by the suburban neighborhood of our hotel, we instead decided to head straight to Sultanahmet where I had scoped out a restaurant to finally taste the Testı Kebap dish. We wandered around the area behind the Blue Mosque before finally finding the Aloran Café and Restaurant, which we ended up having completely to ourselves. Do not be fooled by that information, however, as this was my favorite meal and meal experience of the whole trip.
At Aloran we had a wonderful waiter named Yunis who spoke English with us the whole evening. The Testı Kebap dish that I ordered is very unique but amazing—again props to my brother, Brad, here as he recommended that I not leave the country without trying it. The dish is lamb, onions, sweet peppers, and mushrooms cooked in a mushroom sauce. The special part, however, is how it is cooked. The mixture is cooked in a ceramic pot in a fire, sealed at the top with dough. The air inside builds up, and the server smashes the pot before handing you your meal. How awesome is that! My dinner was phenomenal, and Jen also had a very yummy Swordfish Kebap that we both enjoyed with a delicious bottle of Kalecik Karasi, a Turkish red wine. Yunis chatted with us for a while after dinner, offering us Turkish Delights and Turkish tea for free before sending us on our way.

Dancing with the Workers at Şiva:


After dinner we walked around the corner to a bar called Şiva I had noticed earlier which offers both Nargile and beer, and even more importantly, beer other than Efes! I ordered myself a Carlsberg and an orange Nargile while Jen ordered a cocktail of her own. This bar was the most fun place, I think, we went to during the whole trip. The bar was owned and operated by four or five best-friends, all from Kurdistan and all in their mid-twenties. We chatted with the bartender, Gino, and two of his friends, Fico and Hasan, for hours. The men even threw on some traditional Turkish music and began dancing for us. Before long, Jen and I were both recruited to come dance with them, and we laughed the night away until heading home around 230am. What a long night, and what a trip! Unfortunately, my flight the following morning is early and I will lose an hour of sleep tonight due to daylight savings, but I can sleep on the plane. My only regrets are not getting to taste golden Kokoreç (Lamb Intestines), more of the desserts, and the Turkish waffles that Jen says are so delicious. I will miss Jen a lot, however the next time I see her will be in Prague after I have graduated! This trip has been one of the best trips of my life, spent in great company, and I would recommend Turkey as a vacation spot, cultural experience, and historical expedition to anyone!

Elveda Istanbul!

Turkey: Day IIX (Izmir and Ephesus)

Saturday, March 26th:

Ephesus, Turkey:


             I may sound like a broken record by now, but this trip has managed to completely blow me away with each passing day. Today we woke up at around 8:00am to eat a quick breakfast at the hotel and meet our tour group to travel to the ancient city of Ephesus in nearby Selçuk for the day. We were greeted at 9:00am by our guide, Tayfun, from Bravo Tourizm. To our surprise, nobody else had signed up for the tour for that day, so we had a private tour all day! The drive to Ephesus is about one hour southward from Izmir, which Jen and I used to catch up on some more rest before we got closer and our guide began telling us facts about the city and the day ahead. He explained (in very good English for a Turkish man) how Ephesus had been inhabited for thousands of years and began to rise as an Ancient Greek city until its summit as the second largest city of the Roman Empire. He also explained how the city had been moved three separate times to accommodate the changing landscape, particular the moving shores of the harbor that offered it one of the biggest seaports in ancient times. Our first stop on our day’s journey was the House of the Virgin Mary.

Statue of the Virgin Mary Outside of Her Home in Ephesus, Turkey:


            Tayfun explained to us that upon his death, Jesus put his mother’s protection in the hands of St. John the Evangelist. St. John was a resident of Ephesus, so presumably he brought Mary with him back to his hometown to watch over her and protect her. For centuries this was mere speculation and her home was never discovered, however people had hope of discovering it. In the nineteenth century, a German nun had an apparition that she saw the house of the Virgin Mary on top of a mountain, next to a spring, overlooking the bay. The house was soon discovered in the late nineteenth century and is now a site of religious pilgrimage. The home, now restored, has been visited by Pope John VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. We arrived at the house and immediately recognized the severe tranquility of the area. Nobody was saying a word, aside from quiet prayer. The home is extraordinarily humble, but merely walking around it one is filled with a sense of awe and wonder. Visitors are also allowed to wash their hands and drink from the spring adjacent to the house. Both Jen and I were amazed at this site and we both purchased small glass bottles of the “holy spring water” before heading back down the mountain to the ruins of Ephesus at its base.

Ancient Carving of the God Hermes / Mercury:


We walked into the north gates of Ephesus with our guide and were immediately greeted with massive stacks of marble ruins. Immediately inside the gate our guide led us around the first area of ruins, explaining the terracotta piping that the inhabitants used for irrigation, and also showing us an ancient form of a backgammon board, carved into marble, that was found near the politician meeting place. He also showed us a small carving on the ground of a circle surrounding a cross-like shape that was used to show other Christians that Christians were secretly practicing there. Pretty tricky way to hide during times of difficulty for the early Christians! We walked down the first main marble avenue of Ephesus and entered the first prominent building of the city, the Odeon. The Odeon looks, at first glance, like a small Roman theatre, except it is older and housed politicians, not gladiators and actors. Greek and Roman politicians debated in the semi-circular chamber for centuries. Continuing down the road we passed a place in the marble where five holes were dug into the stone. Tayfun explained to us that the eternal flame of Ephesus was chained to the ground there so ships could see the city from the harbor. It is also a symbol of good fortune, and is positioned next to a stone carving of the both Hermes (or the Roman Mercury) and his symbol.

The Temple of Hadrian:


We walked to the bottom of the hill and came to an intersection where stood a massive tomb and another walkway leading to the ruins of the Temple of Domitian. At the base of the hill also stood a carving of Nike (or the Roman Victoria), a symbol of victory for those who lived during these times. We turned the corner and immediately laid eyes upon hoards of more massive ruins. It was astonishing to imagine all of these buildings so many centuries ago, filled with merchants, slaves, and city dwellers living their lives. We walked down the next marble road through the Hercules Gates and along a row of old merchant storefronts. Each little store decorated its front steps with its own mosaic designs, and these are beautifully preserved today. Across from the storefronts is the massive arching facade of the Temple of Hadrian with carvings of Hadrian and Medusa among the friezes on its top level. Let me pause here and note that I do not mean to underestimate the sheer beauty and awesomeness of these buildings by simply listing their names—you really have to see them for yourself! There are just so many of them it is almost overwhelming and awe-inspiring.

The Roman Terrace Houses:


Farther down the road we entered the Latrine where people would pay to use public toilets. Our guide also explained to us that slaves used to heat the marble seats in the winter by sitting on them until a patron came along to use them. Also just outside of the latrine was the first carving of Artemis, the main god to whom the city dwellers prayed. Across from the Latrine is an entrance to a sub-museum of Ephesus, the Roman Terrace Houses. Visitors pay a small entry fee and enter an on-going excavation of Upper-Class Roman Homes ascending the hills that surround Ephesus. The whole building is covered by a massive roof to protect those working inside, and a glass walkway has been installed so visitors may observe the houses. These houses are absolutely top-notch. Archeologists have pieced together thousands of pieces of marble to try and reassemble the walls of the homes, and many of the walls are covered in layers upon layers of fresco paintings. The houses featured frescoes of cupids, the muses, Medusa, Plato, Socrates, and others. Scores of mosaics also decorated the floors and walls of these rich dwellings. The back exit at the top of the terrace offered visitors the beautiful view of the harbor and the rest of Ephesus that these rich families enjoyed every day.

The Library of Celsus and the Gate of Augustus:


Exiting the Terrace Houses Museum, one is immediately confronted with the largest building in Ephesus, the great Library of Celsus. This library was reconstructed from ruins in the 1970s, and in its time was the second largest library in the world, second to only the great library at Alexandria. The massive facade of the library is what anyone would see 99% of the time if they Google-searched Ephesus. Before going inside the library, Jen and I were mobbed by a group of young Turkish schoolchildren who all wanted to get a picture taken of them with the American tourists we were! This gave me quite a laugh. Inside the library is the tomb of Celsus, an Ancient Greek Governor of the Asian provinces of the Greek Empire. Immediately adjacent to the library is the Gate of Augustus which leads to the massive commercial Agora of Ephesus. Most of the Agora is in ruins, however visitors can clearly see its massive footprint, and some small goods have been recovered and are on display in cases nearby. Across the street from the library, as our guide noted, is the Brothel of Ephesus—more on that in just a moment.
We continued down another main street of the city, passing more massive marble ruins and Ancient Greek inscription with each step. We got to one carving and stopped. Our guide explained that it was an ancient form of advertising. The left foot carving told people that this building was on the left side of the street. There is a beautiful woman pictured, signifying the Brothel. Also carved into the stone is a heart, filled with coins, explaining that these ladies can offer love but for a price. Pretty cool seeing as I’d love to be involved in advertising in the coming years! We passed more carvings of gladiators as we approached the Great Theatre of Ephesus. In its time, this theatre could hold more than 44,000 people. As we entered, the tour guide of a Japanese tour group was giving a performance, singing a song in Ancient Greek. The sheer magnitude of this theatre can almost not be appreciated from up close—it may have been the largest one in all of the Greek or Roman Empires.

The Great Theatre of Ephesus:


            Across from the theatre are the ruins of the Gymnasium where gladiators would practice in the nude. The ruins are adorned with symbols of the gladiators and victory: wolves, bulls, rams, goats, and lions. We walked through these ruins and headed out the South gate of Ephesus to continue our tour to other locations for the day. As we had some extra time, our tour guide decided to show us more of the Turkish culture by taking us to some cooperatives in the area. Our first stop was at the Ephesus Ceramics Production Center where we were shown how pottery is made, painted, colored, decorated, and cooked in a kiln to harden. We were then brought into their showroom where I finally found a Hittite Wine Jug that I had been looking for the whole trip! These jugs look like they have a massive doughnut in the middle of them that users put their arms through to pour the wine. After some haggling I made off with the jug for 300TL.
            Our guide then took us to a production center called “Galata” where we had a lavish feast for lunch. It seemed like each course was a meal in its own! We ate fairly quickly before walking to a Turkish silk rug factory. In here we were shown how the silk is taken from the cocoons of silk worms and woven on a machine. Then we were shown how the workers weave each and every knot of the rug, often taking over a year to make a complete one! The whole process amazed me, but it could not tempt the college kid that I am to spend over 2500TL on a silk rug, even after a cup of free Turkish coffee. Next door was a jewelry store where we got to see how diamonds are cut and set on jewelry. Another cool thing that they do at Turkish jewelry stores is a gold style called “Fibula.” This style consists of wrapping eighteen karat gold with twenty-four karat gold and the finish product has a dull sort of luster to it that resembles the great Ottoman treasures. Our next stop was at a leather factory called “Naturel” where we were given our very own personal fashion show! As Turkey is a Muslim nation, most of the people in the country do not eat Pork as it is against Islam practices. Therefore, the people eat a ton of Lamb. These lamb hides are then donated to the state to create ultra-high quality leather sold at outlets like these. The best part of the fashion show was that Jen was recruited to show off one of the jackets herself! We did not buy anything here, and after a quick stop at a Turkish treat store where I purchased some Turkish Delights to bring home to friends, we were back on the sightseeing trail.

St. John's Basilica:


            Our Ephesus ruins tour picked up again at St. John’s Basilica. This church was constructed in the sixth century and housed the tomb and bones of John the Apostle before his body was looted by Crusaders. The church stands in remarkable condition atop a hill in Selçuk below a more modern Ottoman fort. We walked around the premises of the Basilica before heading down the hill to the Isa Bey Mosque constructed in the fourteenth century. The visit inside the mosque was quick as it was almost prayer time, however we walked around the courtyard outside filled with Ottoman tombstones and Ancient Greek columns. Tayfun explained how most of the columns for both the mosque and the basilica above were “recycled” from the Temple of Artemis, our next stop. We drove farther down the hill to the site of the Temple of Artemis. Here stands only one remaining column of the over one-hundred that were built in the fifth-century BC. This temple was once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Walking around this plot of land, I was filled with an eerie sense of wonder and awe as such a remarkable structure had both been built, revered, and destroyed on that very ground. This was our last stop of the wonderful tour, and this feeling stayed with me for the whole car ride back to Izmir. It also seemed to spark an extreme desire to learn more about Ancient History. Furthermore, Tayfun explained to me that twenty-two separate civilizations had come through Anatolia (Asia-Minor) over the course of human history. Absolutely stunning.

The Temple of Artemis:


            We were dropped off by our tour van at the hotel and decided to catch a couple sites of Izmir before the sun went down as we were leaving the following day. We walked around the town to the ongoing excavation of the Agora of Smyrna and to the Izmir clock tower at the waterfront. We watched a beautiful sunset before walking through the Konak Pier, a mall right on the waterfront, and heading back for a quick nap before dinner. On our way back I also got to try Ayran, which is basically a drink of yogurt and water that tastes like salty milk—not necessarily for me. Unfortunately, we had requested that a dinner reservation be made at a place I had heard about, but the hotel reception mixed up our wishes. We got a taxi all the way (and 38TL) to the restaurant outside of the city before walking inside and learning that it was closed for a wedding, so we had to find our way (and 20+TL) back to another restaurant. We settled on a wonderful place called Boğaziçi Restaurant right on the water where I ate some fried calamari, Seabream, and drank a nice Turkish Chardonnay. The fish was delicious, and I should remind people that when you order balik at Turkish restaurants, it usually comes out to you with bones, scales, eyes, and all! Though, if it is a nice establishment, they will usually offer to clean the fish for you. We headed back to our hotel after dinner to get some sleep after such a long day—this day was by far the most packed of the trip, however the sites we saw were truly remarkable and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. That being said, I would return in an instant.


The Izmir Sunset:


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Turkey: Day VII (Izmir, Pamukkale, and Hierapolis)

Friday, March 25th:

Pamukkale Travertines:


            I feel like each day we have a stranger but more awesome adventure. Today we woke up for the hotel buffet breakfast of Börek, Turkish Delight, peach nectar, assorted meat, cheese, and bread, before heading off to the Pamukkale Travel companies desk to purchase a bus ticket to Denizli. I should note that I also got to try a Middle Eastern delight at breakfast known as Helva, a very melt-in-your-mouth sugary treat that is made differently in every nation in the region. Denizli is the capital of a province to the east of Izmir, and is about a three and a half hour bus ride from Izmir. We had some difficulty, again with the language barrier, trying to get onto the correct bus, but we made it and both got some well needed rest on the bus. Another note that Jen and I were laughing at, Turkish bus services are like airline services around the world. Instead of a flight attended, the busses have an attendant of its own who serves drinks and food through the bus during your ride. It is a pretty cool idea that I enjoyed a lot! We had some difficulty trying to figure out which stop was ours, and as the bus travelled the 250 or so kilometers to Denizli, our surroundings became more and more Middle-Eastern. The mountains also got taller, until snow-capped peaks of over 10,000 feet came into view in the distance. We were taking this bus to Denizli to go to the World Heritage Site of Pamukkale and Hierapolis, an ancient Roman city built on the top of a beautiful natural site of calcium deposits in travertine shapes down the cliffs.

The White Soils of Pamukkale, Turkey:


            We finally got to Denizli and found a shuttle for the 45 minute ride up to Pamukkale. The city of Denizli seemed very Middle-Eastern and all over the place, as the roads were very hectic and the buildings were very rustic. A man named Mustafa spoke very good English and helped us find our way while offering us a restaurant recommendation that we would use later in the town of Pamukkale. We got off the bus and figured out that busses ran all hours of the night back to Izmir, which really calmed my nerves and let me enjoy the rest of the day. On our walk up the hill to the World Heritage Site, we also randomly ran into the Turkish Army, or Jandarma, working on something in the town. It was definitely super random to run into a group of men carrying submachine guns in such a remote town, but we just walked by and it was no big deal.
            Walking up to Pamukkale, one can immediately notice that the ground is a very bright white color. A high level of calcium in the hot spring water that runs down the mountains has caused the ground to turn bright white. It almost looks like snow on the ground, which is not so far-fetched as there is snow on the high peaks that look down on you. It is also these calcium deposits that hardened over time and formed the travertines that cascade down the cliffs. As we walked up, we reached the steam of water running down the hill, and were required to remove our shoes to not hurt the hardening sediment as we walked upon it (and to not slip on the slippery, wet slope). It is a very cool natural feature, and the water feels very warm on your feet as you walk up. The park management has created some artificial travertine pools that visitors are allowed to walk in and bask in the sun and the warm spring water.

A Roman Statue of Neptune:


            At the top of the calcium-stained cliffs, visitors are greeted with a vastly different sight. In stark contrast to the natural creation below stand the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Hierapolis. We walked around some of the ruins which have stood scattered since a series of earthquakes centuries ago. We walked into a sub-museum of the park, the museum of small artifacts, which is built inside large Roman bath buildings that still stand. Inside are tons of ancient coins, pots, tools, and sculptures to the gods. There is also a collection of friezes to the gods and sarcophagi inside in very good condition, alongside a series of tombstones of gladiators and prominent figures of their time.

The Theatre of Hierapolis:


            We continued up the hills towards the massive Roman Theatre. A symbol of ancient Roman cities, the theater is the largest structure still standing and the park management have been restoring the stage facade for years. It is a beautiful building and offers great views of the entire city and mountains surrounding the visitor. We climbed the hill even farther to discover the Martyrion of St. Phillip, or the location where St. Phillip was martyred. These ruins are absolutely stunning to walk around, and very humbling that our own human race was so advanced so long ago. We continued back down the hill to the park center, a series of restaurants and shops built on the location of an old roman bath. The park management has restored much of the bath and routed the hot spring water into it, offering a modern roman bath pool for visitors to swim in for a (slightly steep) fee of 25TL. Also very cool, an earthquake in the 14th century knocked Roman columns into the pool, and swimmers walk all over them and swim in the pool with them. It seems slightly gimmicky at first, but you cannot help but feel like you are back in Ancient Rome as you swim around the hot pool.

Frontinus Street of Hierapolis, Turkey:


            After snagging a quick tea, Jen and I made our way across the other half of the city. This portion of the city holds hundreds of ancient tombs, including many built right into the white soil which again offers an interesting juxtaposition of man and nature. Also in this direction are the ruins of the old Agora, or the marketplace in Roman times, as well as massive arches of a basilica. Visitors can walk directly down the colonnaded Frontinus Street, the main avenue of the city, and see ruins of a very well preserved latrine and various other buildings. At the end of Frontinus Street is the massive Necropolis of Hierapolis, one of the largest in all of the Ancient Roman Empire. As we discovered later, the reason for this old cemetery being so large, is that Romans wanted to be buried near Saints, and St. Phillip is buried in the city. Our walk back down to the town of Pamukkale was breathtaking as we enjoyed glimpses of the sun setting over the distant mountains and casting its orange and pink sky reflections on the pretty blue waters falling down the mountain.

A Roman Tomb Set Into the White Soil of Pamukkale:


            Back in town, Jen and I got our bus tickets sorted out and found that the last regularly scheduled bus home was at 9:30pm, so we sat down at a wonderful restaurant called Mustafa at the Mustafa Hostel. It was recommended to us by the bus attended that had helped us get up to Pamukkale in the first place, and it was a very cozy little setting with comfortable seats filled with pillows to sit on. We chatted with locals and a nice Czech traveler while watching the Turkish U-18 Football Team demolish Liechtenstein by a score of 6-1. I ate some lentil soup along with a dish called the Pamukkale Kebap, which was a chicken kebap dish that was broiled along with peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic and was served on a hot plate with the fire that had cooked it still blazing underneath. It was a great presentation, and an even better meal! We headed back down to the bus station to catch our bus and made it just in time. The bus seemed to take a while, and unlike Jen, I was not tired at all so I stayed awake on the ride and listened to whatever English music they had. Each bus seat had a monitor with some movies, TV shows, and music on it, however just about all they had for English music was the Ace of Bass Greatest Hits album—shoot me now. The bus got back to Izmir around 12:30am and after some trouble finding our free shuttle back to Basmane, we finally got home and crashed before another early morning and full day of touring. Phew!


Pamukkale, Turkey at Night:


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Turkey: Day VI (Izmir and Çeşme)

Thursday, March 24th:

The Aegean Sea in Çeşme (With Greek Islands in the Background):


            Another wonderful (and confusing) adventure today! Jen and I caught our flight to Izmir early in the morning and arrived at the Park Hotel in Basmane around one. I should note that I finally got to try the Turkish breakfast/lunch food of Börek at the airport. This food is basically a flaky dough roll filled with cheese. The weather today in Izmir was significantly better than in Istanbul, as it was sunny and around 70 degrees (Fahrenheit… I feel I have to specify because they use Celsius here). We checked in and threw on our bathing suits to try to catch an hour long bus to Çeşme, a Turkish summer resort town on the Aegean Sea. After some more language difficulties discovering the final bus back to the city so we would not get stranded, we got our bus tickets and made our way to the small town. When we got there, the wind had picked up extraordinarily and the temperature had dropped to around 60 degrees. So much for swimming, as the water at the famous Ilica Beach was very cold too and getting wet in that wind would be frigid. We walked to the beach to discover that we were apparently way too early for beach season; the town and the beach were entirely empty. The beach was, however, a beautiful spot tucked between the sea and massive mountains rising all around.
            Since it was cold, we decided to try to find the naturally occurring geothermal hot springs of Çeşme. We learned that they were part of the ocean, tucked into breakwaters in the town’s marina, and we got the help of the receptionists at the Sheraton hotel right on the beach on how to get there. We walked about three kilometers to the breakwater, and tried to find where the water was warm. This spot was super sketchy, as there are boats in the water and it is tough to find where the hot water is coming from, all while we were getting blasted by sea water from the wind-whipped waves slamming the breakwater next to us. We noticed that there were iron stairs descending into a small ocean pool at the very end of the breakwater, so we walked down there. The adventure really started when we discovered that we had to navigate across a very sketchy bridge made of wooden planks across the deep ocean water to reach this pool, all while trying to maintain balance in the high winds. I shimmed my way across with both my and Jen’s bags, and helped her across before we dipped into the small geothermic pool. The water in there was very strange, in that waves would sneak cold ocean water in every once in a while, but other than that it was quite pleasant and warm. I even almost burned the bottom of my feet on the rocks on the bottom!

The Geothermic Hot Springs of Çeşme:


We swam in these pools for about thirty minutes, before trying to dry off and stay warm between blasts of sea water and the wind still picking up. Two local fishermen aided us back across the bridge and we went to change in a bathroom on our walk back to the bus station. On the way we stopped at a local café called Tius where we were given hot tea to warm up by a very nice worker. We chatted with him and he explained how he learned English from talking to the resort and beachgoers every summer, and told us that his name was Erkan. We had a nice chat about the importance of the English language for Turkish citizens and all people around the world as the international language, and he explained that his name meant “Soldier Blood” in Turkish. He gave us a nice discount on our tea before sending us off on our way. We made our way back to the bus station and caught a nice nap on the way back to Izmir.

Ilica Beach in Çeşme:


Izmir is a very different city than Istanbul. It is more of a resort city, and much more Western than Istanbul. After hot showers to warm us up from still being wet and cold from Çeşme, Jen and I walked over to Atatürk Caddesi in Alsancak, the main café, restaurant, and bar area of the city. The street is very long and runs parallel to the sea and a large, cozy park. We walked all the way down to the end to find the restaurant we had wanted to go to, before discovering that they literally had zero fish or vegetarian dishes on the menu. Seeing as Jen is a vegetarian, we left that restaurant and walked back to a fish restaurant called Kordonboyu Balik Pişiricisi. It was very late, after 10:45pm at this point, so the fish selection was very slim, however I got to try one of the last remaining Angler Sole fish that they had left. Naturally, I thought this was awesome, as I have always loved the look of this fish but never gotten to taste it! The dish was prepared broiled in a plate filled with onions, tomatoes, peppers, and lemons, and was absolutely delicious and very filling! I had planned on eating dessert, but did not have any room left in my stomach for it. We left the restaurant and walked back to the hotel, stopping at a bar called the Menta Bar. In here we each had an Efes and laughed at the (legal) prostitutes walking around shaking each and every patron’s hands. They also had a concert in this bar of a keyboard player/DJ, violinist (or some similar instrument that I am unaware of the name), and a singer playing traditional Turkish/Arabic music. We were entertained by this for about a half hour before heading home to get some shut-eye before another long day of touring tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Turkey: Day V (Istanbul)

Wednesday, March 23rd:

Topkapı Sarayı from Galata Tower:


            WOW. Today we visited one of the most incredible sites I have ever been to, the Topkapı Sarayı (Palace), but I will get to that shortly. We skipped breakfast today and went straight to the Dolmabahçe Palace for a tour of it and the Harem attached to it. The weather today was also the best we have had so far, as the annoying sprinkles of rain had given way to sun, although it was still very windy and somewhat chilly (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Dolmabahçe is a militarized zone, so the Turkish Army has guards with automatic rifles guarding its beautiful gates. It is a militarized zone because it is the place that Mustafa Atatürk died. A note here: Turkish people adore Atatürk. His picture is everywhere, everyone has posters of him in their homes, and the Turkish government even blocked Youtube.com for the entire country for a while because they discovered a spoof video someone made claiming that Atatürk was a homosexual. Pretty intense. I suppose that it is deserved as he was their first president and gained independence for the Turkish Republic in the 1920s. Anyways, we took a tour of the Palace which housed the last Sultans of the Ottoman Empire before Atatürk abolished Sultanship and their statuses as religious caliphs for Islam. The palace is very distinctly Western European, in stark contrast to the Ottoman and Byzantine architecture in the older part of the city. Most of the rooms have European furnishings, Baroque style paintings, and massive crystal chandeliers. It reminded me very much of some of the newer French castles I have visited. After touring the palace and its massive chambers used for ambassadorial meetings, we went into the Harem where the Sultans and their many wives and children lived. These rooms were more modest, but still very interesting to see where these powerful and wealthy men lived their daily lives. The word Harem comes from words meaning “forbidden” as women were not allowed into the actual palace, and nobody besides the Sultan and his family were allowed inside the Harem. It is inside the Harem where Atatürk fell into a coma due to liver failure and passed away. His death bed is adorned with the flag of the nation he dedicated his life to create and lead.

The Changing of the Guard at Dolmabahçe Palace:


            Following our tour of Dolmabahçe we made our way over to the Sultanahmet area to go to Tokapı Palace. On the way, we were both starving, so we stopped at a corner café next to the Hagia Sophia and both got Anatolian Pancakes called Gözleme. Mine had ground meat in it and Jen’s had nuts and honey. Hers was clearly better than mine, but both were good and we also had a Mediterranean Salad before walking over to the Palace. After some small difficulty finding the entrance—we walked through a huge park twice before finding it—we finally walked inside the outer courtyard of the palace. This place is absolutely massive. It was the location of the head of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years, and today is a museum. We did not have enough time, unfortunately, to go to both the palace and the harem, so we just purchased tickets (again, Jen’s was free with her museum card) and went inside the inner courtyard. Seemingly everywhere you look there are the traditional blue Ottoman tiles and gold Arabic scripts decorating the buildings.
There are probably 50 different rooms to enter; libraries, justice halls, meeting rooms, armories, stables, treasuries, lounges, and even the circumcision room of the Ottoman princes is open to the public. We walked around a few of these rooms, in awe, before heading into the first of four treasury rooms. Inside these rooms the museum displays collections of Ottoman clothing, such as the caftans that the sultans wore, their suits of armor, and hundreds of jewelry items decked out in some of the biggest and shiniest gems I have ever seen in my life. We are talking rubies and emeralds the size of my fist here. In one room they have both an 86 and a 74 carat diamond. All of these gems decorate even the seemingly most useless of items—these sultans were the kings of accessorizing. There are benches, thrones, altars, Koran bindings, medals, pins, rings, earrings, and necklaces galore. Some of the coolest items, to me, were the Sultan’s swords. The Topkapı Daggar is on display, made famous by a film in the 1950s, as well as “the sword that conquered Persia” for the Ottomans. Ridiculous stuff.

Topkapı Sarayı:


            I had thought after seeing these items that I was already in awe of the lives of these Ottoman sultans and of the palace itself, but then we made our way into the Collection of Holy Artifacts room. It was in here where my jaw almost literally hit the floor at the magnitude of the significance of these items. In the first room you know the gravity of the collection, as two swords are one display belonging to two of the Apostles of Jesus. Next to them is a tall, seemingly basic rod stick. I looked at Jen wondering why this was on display next to such holy swords, and we glanced at the plaque that said “Rod of Moses.” We were immediately skeptical, as such an old, plain, and important item could not possibly still be around, let alone be validated as the actual rod. After going home for the day I investigated the legitimacy here: in one version of the Bible, the rod is said to have been destroyed. However, legend has it that the rod was passed down for generations within the community of Jews that Moses saved from Egypt. It was said to have remained in Egypt until the Ottoman sultans conquered Egypt and took the rod back to Istanbul. Frommer’s travel books also claims the legitimacy of this object, and I am still taken aback at how significant this artifact actually is. Also on display in this room are the sabers of the four original caliphs.
            Next we walked farther into the Hall of Holy Artifacts and discovered a collection of items that people were tightly and closely crowded around. I remind the reader that Turkey is an Islamic nation, and we soon noticed that there are a great number of artifacts from the life of the Prophet Muhammed kept here. Swords of the men who stood by his side are on display, as well as gold shutter pieces and locks from the Holy Ka’aba in Mecca. The sword of Muhammed himself is on display along with dirt from his grave, pieces of his beard, his footprint, and a piece of his tooth that was lost in the battle of Uhud. In another room is the first handwritten version of the Koran on deerskin. The holiest of all artifacts of Muhammed is his mantle, the Hırka-i Şharif, which is kept in a golden arc behind multiple panes of thick glass. I felt that I did not appreciate these artifacts as much as I should have, as I have a very limited knowledge of Islamic history, and the rooms were all filled with Muslims in awe of their prophet’s personal items. Perhaps I will learn more about Islam before I return to this collection later in my life.

Hagia Irene:


            We left the Holy Artifacts room and visited some of the other rooms of the palace, including the place where the sultans watched the moon over his empire every night. We walked around the palace until around its closing time before heading out, and stopping at the Hagia Irene inside the outer courtyard. This Byzantine church is not open to the public without special permission from the Turkish Tourism Police. The church predates the Hagia Sophia next door and is built upon the grounds of a pre-Christian temple. The inside is like a smaller version of the Hagia Sophia, however all of the tile mosaics have been lost save for a giant black cross on the sanctuary wall.
            I had thought that the Galata Tower had closed at five in the afternoon, as the website online had said, but we walked over to it anyways and discovered, to my surprise, that it was open until eight! I was very excited as I had thought I would miss out on the amazing photo opportunities offered on its ninth floor balcony. This building was originally constructed in the fifth century as a Byzantine lighthouse. It still stands today as a restaurant, museum attraction, and night club. Visitors take an elevator to its top floor and go onto the outside deck offering a 360 degree view of the entire city. The view towards the Sultanahmet area is absolutely stunning as you can see Topkapı Palace, the Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque all close together and unobstructed. I took a few photos from up there before heading back to the ground. From here, Jen and I walked down the road to Karaköy to catch a ferry across the Bosphorus to Kadiköy to get dinner in Asia at a Kurdish restaurant called Çiya. Another note here to travelers: this ferry across the river is the best bang-for-your-buck in the city. For just two Turkish Lira you get a half-hour ride on the Bosphorus! We also did this at sunset, and the views were awesome.

Istanbul at Sunset from Galata Tower:


            The Asian side is far more difficult to navigate than the European side, and is filled with mostly residential areas and outdoor markets offering fish, vegetables, and fruits. We wondered around for a little while before finding our restaurant, Çiya Sofrasi. Here we ordered a large assortment of foods as most of the entrees come out as half orders. I had dishes called Bozbas (beef chunks, potato, coriander, onion, parsley, and lamb), Siveydiz (Lamb, chickpeas, strained yogurt, mint, garlic) and they both were cooked as stew-like dishes. I also had a rice dish called Perde Pilavi which is made from dough stuffed with rice, raisons, pine nuts, almonds, and chicken. We also sampled different drinks of Sumac juice and a juice drink called Nevrooz made from barley and honey. This meal was absolutely excellent, and if you can afford the time to get over to try it, it is a wonderful alternative to the traditional Turkish restaurants all over the city but still offers an authentic meal from Old Turkey. Following dinner we walked around and found a bar with a band playing and had an Efes before heading back to our hotel. We had to wake up early the next morning to catch a flight to Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey located on the Aegean Coast in Asia where we would stay for three nights.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Turkey: Day IV (Istanbul)

Tuesday, March 22nd:

The Black Sea from a Distance:


            What an adventure today! We woke up intending to go to Topkapı Palace, but discovered that it was closed on Tuesdays. We also had wanted to go to the Princes Islands in the Marmara Sea for a day, but discovered that the ferries there don’t run from March 20th to March 26th (literally the one week all year that they close, and the one week that I am here). So after eating the hotel breakfast, we decided maybe it would be cool to visit Rumeli Hisari, one of the Ottoman forts on the Bosphorus, and if we had time, possibly get up to see the Black Sea. We took a 45 minute bus ride north to Sariyer before discovering that we had travelled far passed Rumeli Hisari and were still a ways from the Black Sea. At least I can say that I saw it, however, as we could see the hills where the Bosphorus ended and the vast sea in the distance where all of the large shipping vessels were headed. We hopped in a cab to head back, and had our first serious problem with the language barrier. I had told the cabbie that we wanted to go to Rumeli Hisari, however I handed him the address to it and he did not know where it was. Mistakenly, I had also written down “Anadolu Hisari” on the paper, which is the matching fort on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, and he saw this and thought that we wanted to go there. After a long and painful cab ride (this cab was awful and lurched so bad we both almost threw up), we got to Anadolu Hisari. This mistake was very annoying, as the Anadolu fort is far smaller and not a museum like, and it cost us 47TL one way and another 23TL coming back after a few pictures. But besides being annoying, this was the first time in my life that I had set foot in Asia!

Rumeli Hisari:



            So we took a cab back to the other side and walked around the 500 year old fort for about an hour. It was built at the narrowest point in the Bosphorus to match the Anadolu fort and defend the Ottomans. We also met a friendly tourism policeman who played a funny joke on Jen, locking her behind a rot-iron gate in one of the towers for a few minutes. It got pretty cold in the wind walking around right on the water, so we took a bus to Taksim Square to look for the Church of St. Anthony of Padua. On the way, we discovered a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church and took our time strolling down Istiklal while hopping in a couple stores. One store was a very cool antique book store that was filled with old art and Arabian maps of the world and old books. I purchased a small original watercolor of the Hagia Sophia here, and we went to the St. Anthony Church. This church is somewhat modern but in a very cool location as it is literally in the middle of urban Taksim which hosts the most nightlife in the entire nation.

Church of St. Anthony of Padua:


            All of this walking got us pretty hungry, so we walked down Istiklal to the Galata neighborhood and got Pide for lunch, the Turkish version of pizza, and more lentil soup (everywhere has this). Ours had peppers and tomatoes on them, and Pide comes without sauce, just cheese. We also walked by the old Galata Tower, built in the fourth century on our way down the hill towards Karaköy. In Karaköy we decided to hang out at a Nargile lounge, a Turkish hookah café. Inside there is food and drink services and you can sit in comfy benches filled with pillows while you watch a personal television and play backgammon. Jen and I got a melon nargile, and the waiters bring you fresh coals every ten minutes or so while you smoke the hookah tobacco in the same manner as the Ottomans hundreds of years ago. We played a full game of backgammon and tried to decipher the Turkish news about the UN missions in Libya before heading back to the hotel for a nap, showers, and to change for dinner.

Myself and Jen at a Nargile Lounge in Karaköy:


            For dinner we had wanted to go to the Kiki restaurant in Taksim Square, however we got going pretty late and the bus took long enough in the traffic that we arrived just after the kitchen closed. Instead, we walked through Taksim and discovered an old Italian wine cellar with a restaurant in it, called Pano Sarapevi, and ate there. We enjoyed a blended Shiraz with our meals, which were mostly Italian but with a distinct Turkish flavor to them. We had rice-stuffed grape leaves for an appetizer, and I had a Steak with peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, and melted cheese on top of it. We knew we had a long day ahead again for tomorrow, so we headed back to Arnavutköy for bed around one in the morning.

Turkey: Day III (Istanbul)

Monday, March 21st:

Today we awoke early enough to enjoy the (included) breakfast at the Villa Denise. Breakfast here consists of coffee, lots of bread, jam, three different types of white cheese, black and green olives, honey, butter, coffee, and a roll of salamı (like ham, but nobody in Islamic regions eat pig). After breakfast we went to the Ortaköy Mosque which is right on the Bosphorus. The mosque has a beautiful exterior, has massive minarets, and is decorated with large crystal chandeliers and baroque paintings. As we walked out of the mosque, Jen’s boot zipper broke, so we travelled to her dorm room in Etiler to get her a new pair of shoes. Following that, we took a bus to Beşiktaş to go to the Dolmabahçe Palace, but it was closed (for Mondays), so we walked to Eminönü to check out the famous Spice Bazaar!

The Ortaköy Mosque:


The Istanbul Spice Bazaar is a very cool place filled with vendors selling Turkish delights, tea leaves, dried fruits, spices, dried vegetable skins, cheese, olives, and tons of nuts. Most of the Turkish delights are filled with pistachios, which is a huge staple of the nation. It is very enjoyable to walk around because you are allowed to take small, free samples of things without buying the large quantities in which they are typically sold. At the end of the spice bazaar, we bought a Vefa drink, which tastes like applesauce mixed with yogurt with hazelnuts in it. From there we walked up a large hill to the Süleymaniye Mosque which is one of the largest in the city and most prominent as it sits on top of a hill overlooking the Golden Horn River that divides the city. The mosque was constructed for the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. The inside is gorgeous and decorated with typical Ottoman styles much like the Blue Mosque.

A Typical Shop-Front in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar:


After a short taxi (taksi) ride north of the city center, we arrived at the Church of St. Savior at Chora (the Kariye Müzesi). This church is a Byzantine church that is much smaller than the Hagia Sophia, but similar style and interior decoration. The church has a series of small hallways that are decorated from top-to-bottom in religious mosaics. It is absolutely beautiful, and much lower-key than the Hagia Sophia. The mosaics are of similar style but are much closer to the viewer as the building is smaller. It is one of the few remaining churches from the Byzantine era that seemed to avoid Islamic influence and the addition of minarets during their reign.

A Beautiful Mosaic of Jesus Christ at The Church of St. Savior at Chora:


After trying unsuccessfully to use the bus system to get to the Grand Bazaar, we rode a taxi to Beyazit for lunch and some shopping. At a café outside the bazaar, I tried Et Dönner, another very traditional Turkish meal. This dish is made by putting a vertical spit through a stack of red meat while it spins and roasts next to a flame. After it cooks, the chef slices down the meat to remove small chunks of the meat, which fall to a plate below and are put in a sandwich with veggies for you to eat. It is a very salty but savory lunch, and I enjoyed it with a cup of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. We went inside the Grand Bazaar after lunch and I was amazed at how crazy it was! There is a labyrinth inside of hallways, and it seems like an American mall, only almost 600 years old and every store sells the same thing. You need to bring your best skills at dodging hecklers here, as they can be very pushy sometimes. In there I purchased some backgammon pieces to go with my new board, and some Italian black leather gloves after some bargaining. It is also absolutely hilarious what you can find for fake designer wares in here, such as D&G, Burberry, Versace, Prada, etc. We left the bazaar and made a short walk to the Column of Constantine, which is nicknamed the Burnt Column for its black scorch marks from a fire centuries ago.

The 550+ Year Old Grand Bazaar:


Now the best treat of the day: we wanted to go to a Turkish Bath (or Hamam) and thanks to a recommendation by a good friend, Jesse Suchoff, we went to the world famous “Cağaloğlu Hamamı.” The place, as advertised, is apparently included on a famous “List of 1000 things to do before you die” and is very Western and spa-like in business, but fully Turkish inside. After purchasing your treatment package and undressing into a traditional Turkish bath towel, you walk inside the Hamam room. This room is basically a massive marble steam room filled with hot water sinks, a marble platform in the center, and a massive domed ceiling with star-shaped holes for natural light to feed inside. If you google “Turkish Bath,” this is the one you will see. After soaking in the steam while laying on the center platform, a Turkish masseur comes inside and hands you a pillow. I will warn people attending this, that a Turkish Massage is not for everyone, as it can be very rough but it will feel very good on the joints after. The masseur digs his elbows and hands deep into your back and legs and stretches all of your joints for fifteen minutes, before you sit next to a sink and he douses you in hot water. Following that, the masseur will take an exfoliating scrub and soap and scrub your skin on your chest, back, legs, and arms. He also dumps shampoo on your head and washes the hair, then leaves you some to clean the regions that would be inappropriate to touch (although, apparently women are naked inside their bath and these boundaries to not exist). This bath was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and after washing myself I sat again soaking in the steam before heading outside to dry off and drink a fresh squeezed fruit juice and a tea. I was basking in this feeling of bliss for hours.
Jen and I made our way back to the hotel for a short nap before heading out to dinner in Arnavutköy next to the Kuruçeşme Park at a restaurant called Marina Balik. Balik is Turkish for fish, and this restaurant is right on the Bosphorus. My brother, Brad, deserved credit for the recommendation here, as he and his wife, Laura, went here on their birthday (yes, they are both born on the same day) when they visited Istanbul. For dinner we both had Grilled Octopus and an extremely delicious Grilled Salt Fish kebap with tomatoes and peppers. We also enjoyed some Turkish white wine with the dinner, a bottle of “Bornova Misketi,” or Muscat, which was by far the best of the trip so far. We digested our food on the walk back to the hotel, and after some prodding from Jen, we took a few pre-game shots of a Turkish vodka called Binbao, flavored like blood-orange, and went to the club called Reina. Reina is apparently one of the best clubs in the world and especially Europe, and is noted as the best club in Istanbul. The location is awesome, right under the bridge to Asia in Ortaköy, however in the winter months the outside deck is closed as it is too cold. We had heard that the doormen are typically against letting Americans inside, but we got inside. I figured that it being a Monday night and being fairly empty was the reason that this was so easy. We still enjoyed the club very much and stayed dancing until it closed at three in the morning. Just a note to people who want to go here: The club is awesome, the service is great if you get inside, but be prepared for a hefty bill. We drank three gin and tonics between the two of us and it was 100TL for them. Finally it is bedtime after such a long and eventful day!

The Exterior of the St. Savior Church at Chora:


Saturday, April 2, 2011

Turkey: Day II (Istanbul)

Sunday, March 20th:

            After finally waking up this morning (and by morning, I mean around 1:00pm) and learning that we had missed the breakfast hours of our Bed and Breakfast hotel, Jen and I made our way by public transportation to the Sultanahmet Area of Istanbul. This area is one of the biggest tourist areas in the city, as the major attractions of the Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed I Camii) and Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) are all located here. The Istanbul public transportation system is fairly efficient, though crowded, as a city of 13.2 million people should be, as buses, trains, and ferries run non-stop during the daytime hours. Jen alerted me to her "Akbil" which is basicaly a microchip on a key chain that stores money to use for these transports, and all of them are under two Turkish Lira for a full ride. A note on the Turkish Lira: as of my trip time, the US Dollar trades at around 1.55 TL per-dollar, which makes transactions here very easy and relatively cheap for American travelers. Anyway, after about an hour of travelling from one end of the city to the other, we arrived in Sultanahmet and I first laid my eyes on the magnificent buildings in the area. These buildings have been around for centuries-- a common theme in this city, as it has been settled for thousands of years and was the center for both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

Exterior View of the Hagia Sophia from across Sultanahmet Park:


            Being fairly hungry, we snagged a snack in the park on our way to the Hagia Sophia: a Turkish Simit. Basically this is the Turkish version of a bagel, and it is basically a large, soft pretzel in circular shape that is covered in sesame seeds. We ate this on our way to the Hagia Sophia, and went inside with an audio guide for a combined 20 TL. Another note here: Jen is an international study-abroad student through Duke University at the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, she has a Turkish Citizen MüzeKart (Museum Card) that gives her massive discounts at all of these attractions in the city.
            My first main attraction in Istanbul might be the best one of the trip. The Hagia Sophia is now a museum, but was a Byzantine Church constructed in the late 6th century as the center of the empire's patriarch. The building was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans sacked Byzantium. This can be noticed by the four minarets that surround the outside of the holy structure. The building was later converted into a museum given its history and the absolutely beautiful sights that can be seen inside. Upon entering, one is immediately encountered with a massive colorful mosaic of Jesus Christ above the main door into the sanctuary. This is one of literally hundreds of mosaics found inside, and one of the most intriguing parts of the museum is how these mosaics are still being discovered today. When converted into a mosque, the ottomans covered all of these mosaics with plaster for their own decor. Today, archeologists are almost blindly (and tremendously carefully) scraping the plaster away in attempts to find more holy mosaics without damaging them. This is a very difficult task, as many of the damaged mosaics show inside the massive building. All over there are mosaic depictions of Byzantine Emperors, Archangels, and holy Christian persons. Seemingly everywhere one looks a mosaic can almost sneak up on you, as they are even hidden in the nooks and crannies of the semi-domes in the high ceilings. It is simply a sight to behold.

Inside the Hagia Sophia:


            After spending over an hour at the Hagia Sophia (I feel like I could have spent days there...) we made our way across the park to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. On the way we stopped at a street vendor and sampled a treat of melted, flavored sugars wrapped around a stick that is similar to a taffy treat at home. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque for the numerous blue tiles and stained glass the decorates its interior, is the national Mosque of Turkey and was constructed for Sultan Ahmed (I) during his reign over the Ottoman Empire. Funny story here, the main mosque of the holy Islamic city of Mecca had five minarets when the Blue Mosque was constructed. As the legend goes, no mosque was to have more minarets than Mecca, however some way along the construction of the Blue Mosque, this instruction was lost and six were built. Not wanting to seem more holy than Mecca, Sultan Ahmed I had two more minarets built and sent to Mecca so it would have seven. While the Hagia Sophia may have the Blue Mosque beat on the inside, the outer structure of the Blue Mosque is far more magnificent than that of the Hagia Sophia. With the six massive minarets and massive domes all over, the building is a prominent point on the Istanbul skyline. As the first mosque I have ever entered (shoes must be removed and women must wear head scarves), I was blown away by the typical Islamic designs on the carpet and domes. There are massive stained glass windows and, as the mosque is still in use, visitors may not pass a fence in the rear of the mosque so as to not disturb those who are praying inside.

The Beautiful Exterior of the Blue Mosque:



            Following the Blue Mosque, we made our way across the park to the Basilica Cisterns museum. The Cisterns is an underground museum that puts its visitors inside an ancient roman cistern that was used as a water store for the city inhabitants. Visitors enter a giant room filled with water and hundreds of Roman columns, and are allowed to walk around the structure. It is very eerie as huge carp swim around the shallow waters, the columns are illuminated with red light, and traditional Turkish music plays softly as tourists hear water drip from the ceiling. Perhaps most intriguing of all, at the far end of the walkways is steps down to the base of two special columns. One of these columns is decorated with a Medusa head upside-down, and the other depicts Medusa head on its side. Why the builders did this is unknown—quite mysterious. After we walked around the museum, we stopped for an apple tea at a café inside the cisterns, and made our way back to the shops of Sultanahmet.

The Roman Columns of Basilica Cisterns:


            For dinner we stopped at a restaurant in Sultanahmet with windows facing the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. It was a great location, and I had Köfte—Ottoman Meatballs with a yogurt sauce and an assortment of veggies. It was here that I also tried Rakı, a favorite Turkish alcoholic drink, for the first time. Rakı is flavored like anise, or black licorice, and is said to taste the best with seafood. I also got to try my first cup of Turkish Coffee after dinner: a cup of coffee boiled with the coffee grains still in it over a wood fire. Very tasty! Following dinner, Jen and I took the light-rail and metro bus back to our hotel and enjoyed some white wine from Cappadocia, a bottle of grape variety “Narince,” and heated up some stuffed mussels from the previous night. We headed to bed early, as we knew we had a long day ahead.